The home security service MI5 is to expand by 50% in response to the terror threat to the UK, the BBC has learned. The home secretary will announce plans to recruit another 1,000 staff in parliament next week. It will take several years to find and vet the staff, principally to carry out surveillance and intelligence work. Opposition parties welcomed the news, although a Conservative Party spokesman said the expansion was overdue. Previously focused largely on Cold War and IRA suspects, the move highlights MI5’s shift to recruit many more Arabic speakers and focus on the threat from al-Qaeda. The increase will bring MI5 back up to World War II staffing levels. The agency believes there are thousands of young people moving in and out of Britain with links to groups close to the terrorist network. MI5 has been criticised in the past for failing to penetrate radical Islamic groups. MI5, which was founded in 1909, has recently embarked on a campaign to recruit more widely, as only 4% of staff are black or Asian.
| Not being a lib, I think I'd look at the percentage that are competent versus in-, rather than at skin color or ethnic background. But maybe that's just me. |
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