Former MI6 Chief Sir Alex Younger to discuss grey zone threats
Former Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir Alex Younger, will give evidence to the Defence Committee in a session starting at 10.30 on Tuesday 21 January.
Dr Margriet Drent, Policy Advisor for the Counter Hybrid Unit at the Ministry of Defence of The Netherlands, will also give evidence.
The Committee will examine the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD’s) contribution towards combatting grey zone threats – threats that fall below the perceived threshold for military action – such as sabotaging undersea cables.
Meeting details
For the first part of the session, the Committee will hear from Dr Drent, focusing on The Netherlands’ efforts to adopt a whole-of-nation approach to grey zone threats. Questions are likely to cover the role of deterrence and the Reserve Forces.
Sir Alex Younger will give evidence in the second part of the session. Sir Alex Younger spent three decades as a career intelligence officer in MI6, including six years as Chief of the agency. He has also served as Director of Counter Terrorism, from 2009 to 2012. This part of the session is likely to cover the nature and origins of the threats that the UK faces. Committee Members may examine the strengths and weakness of liberal democracies when it comes to countering grey zone threats.