David Lidington

Former Chair & now Distinguished Fellow @rusi_org. President @conseurope, UK chair #Königswinter & #AuroraForum Ex Cabinet & MP [email protected]

[The Prince and Princess of Wales @KensingtonRoyal]

I was saddened to hear of the death of Alex Younger. He embodied the very best of what the Secret Intelligence Service stands for - integrity, courage, and an unwavering commitment to protecting this country and its people. Britain has lost an exceptional public servant. My thoughts are with Lady Younger and their family. W

[Kevin Edger @KEdge23]

Very well said by Conservative MP @BenObeseJecty on Peston.

Robert Jenrick will do anything to get ahead, even if it means lying and deceiving. A pure career politician, with no moral compass. Glad he was sacked from the Conservatives.

[William Dalrymple @DalrympleWill]

Alex Younger, with whom used to play toy soldiers with as a boy growing up in the Borders half a century ago, was an intensely moral man, perhaps unusually for a successful intelligence officer. Privately he was forthright in his criticism of those, such as Netanyahu, who were happy to slaughter the innocents among their enemies. This line in his obituary rang very true to the man I knew: "He was acutely aware of the corrupting powers of espionage and of the compromises it requires, but decried the “pernicious myth that, somehow, intelligence services are moral equivalents; that the end justifies the means, whatever the cost”. MI6 was not the same as the services of authoritarian states. “If we undermine the values we defend, even in the name of defending them, then we have lost.”"

[Richard Moore @XChiefMI6]

I dreaded this news. So sad to get off a long flight and learn that my dear friend Alex Younger had died. Alex was the best of #MI6 - high intelligence, low ego, driven - beneath the affable exterior, deeply moral, kind, fun and irreverent. And an ace spy. RIP.

[Richard Moore @XChiefMI6]

A beautiful tribute from @Eduard_Hellvig. Thank you, Eddie. Well said by the exceptional former leader of one of our closest partners, Romania’s SRI.

[David Lidington @DLidington]

Actually, Zia Yusuf repeating that "Reform was built, in part, to destroy the Tory Party" reinforces the argument of many lifelong Conservatives that a deal or link-up with Reform would be a catastrophic misjudgement & support @KemiBadenoch's rejection of such a course.

[(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges]

Zia Yusuf now simultaneously opening up on Jacob Rees-Mogg, Camilla Tominey and the Telegraph. I'll say it again, he's rapidly losing control. And he's going to cross over the line soon.

[Rupert Myers @RupertMyers]

Presumably SIS thought this article was useful cover for Alex Younger

[Mel Stride @MelJStride]

If you watch one video today. Please watch this one.

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

Today I have met Lucy, Mark and Katie, Henry Nowak’s mother, father and stepmother. Their courage is extraordinary.

They have endured the most appalling loss, it is a life sentence for them.

They have also faced the agonising decision to release the harrowing body-worn camera footage, knowing how painful it would be and how strongly people would react. They did so because they want truth, accountability and change.

They have asked that we work across political parties and religions to rebuild trust in the police. That trust has been broken because of what happened, and I agree with them on that.

We must also be prepared to examine, carefully and seriously, religious practices or exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public, and other activities that are not conducive to the public good. We also need to examine where the law needs to change.

Henry’s family do not want anger to tear communities apart. They are a family who have friends across faith and race, and so did Henry. His family want his memory to help bring our society together.

Everyone knows I have strong views about how we should deal with equality under the law. What the family agreed with me on is that we need to bring common sense back, and that is what we should all be fighting for.

I promised the family that we will work to ensure there is a positive legacy for Henry out of this tragedy.

That is my focus now.

[Eduard Hellvig @Eduard_Hellvig]

Sir Alex Younger: viața unui anti-martini

Alex Younger a fost directorul MI6 între 2014 și 2020. Ieri a murit într-un spital din Boston, iar această știre cu greu își va face loc în jurnalele de știri de la noi.

Viața și cariera lui vor rămâne însă pentru totdeauna în gândurile și memoria mea afectivă.

Alex Younger și-a petrecut aproape întrega carieră în serviciul secret britanic cu profesionalism și discreție, parcă în pofida rolului flamboaiant pe care i-l atribuie tradițional cinematografia.

L-am cunoscut pe Alex la București în anul 2015. Era de puțin timp director, ca și mine de altfel, și venise în România în plină campanie Brexit, pentru a se asigura că, oricare ar fi rezultatul votului, serviciile noastre vor continua cooperarea.

Ne-am revăzut ulterior în cîteva ocazii și ne-am auzit de mai multe ori. Alex era acel tip de profesionist care identifica rapid problemele și le definea clar și precis. Avea un fel de a fi, cordial și direct, pe care analiștii l-ar numi carismă. De fapt, era o bucurie permanentă de a dialoga, de a-și sluji țara și profesia, în moduri și tonuri care nu erau niciodată rigide sau convenționale.

În omagiile care i se aduc în spațiul britanic regăsesc formula „a thoroughly decent and kind man”. Așa era Alex, dar și mult mai mult decât poate cuprinde o exprimare britanică rezervată.

El nu a fost niciodată personajul prețios din filme, care rostogolește replici șlefuite în lumina unui candelabru de cristal.

Alex Younger a fost însă cea mai apropiată versiune de erou real în lumea informațiilor. Frumosul acestei profesii este că nu are nevoie nici de explozii, nici de gadgeturi, nici de pahare cu picior.

Câteva episoade din cariera sa ne arată un om care a trăit microbul profesional dincolo de orice scenariu de film.

Alex Younger intrat în MI6 în 1991, după câțiva ani petrecuți în Afganistan ca militar.

Rămâne în Afganistan ca voluntar într-o organizație care elimina minele antipersonal rămase în urmă.

Războiul din fosta Iugoslavie îl găsește pe teren, înțelegând la firul ierbii treburile complicate ale Balcanilor.

Întors la Londra după câțiva ani devine șeful contraterorismului britanic; în această calitate a coordonat, printre altele, securitatea Jocurilor Olimpice din 2012.

În 2014 devine „C”. Sub mandatul său, MI6 îi identifică și îi expune pe autorii atacului cu Novichok de la Salisbury și coordonează cea mai mare expulzare de "diplomați" ruși din istoria NATO de până atunci.

Ca previziune interesantă, în 2016 avertiza, cu ani înainte ca lumea să înțeleagă, că dezinformarea digitală amenință democrațiile în mod existențial. Nimeni nu l-a ascultat cu adevărat atunci, vorbele sale fiind probabil taxate ca exagerări de spook. Între timp, lucrurile au fost reevaluate.

În 2018 este primul șef MI6 care vorbește public despre atribuirea unui atac cibernetic major unui stat ostil binecunoscut.

În 2019, în plină funcție la MI6, Alex a fost lovit de o pierdere personală greu de suportat. A continuat să își facă datoria, a lucrat în fiecare zi și a purtat cu demnitate greutatea definitivării acordurilor post-Brexit.

România nu va ști niciodată cu certitudine dacă și în ce măsură a beneficiat de prietenia unui astfel de om. Dar eu știu suficient ca să spun că Estul nu i-a fost indiferent și că prietenia sa a fost eficientă, cordială și discret-loială.

A sprijinit personal întreg procesul de transformare instituțională a SRI și am lucrat împreună pe câteva dintre dosarele delicate ale Europei Centrale și de Est, cu ecouri indirecte atât în România, cât și în UK.

Sir Alex Young a înțeles România și partea noastră de lume mai complet și mai nuanțat decât mulți dintre europeni.

A murit ieri, în liniște, mult prea tânăr. Trecerea sa nu are nimic din dramatismul filmelor din vest. A fost răpus de o afecțiune comună, dar necruțătoare. Și tocmai în asta stă, paradoxal, ultima sa lecție, predată discret: în această profesie eroii sunt de fapt oameni simpli care fac lucruri extraordinare atunci când sunt animați de idealuri înalte.

Gândurile mele se îndreaptă și către Sarah, cea care a știut cel mai bine ce înseamnă să iubești un om care aparține în același timp și altor zeci de milioane. Cea care a știut foarte bine, ani de zile, cum este să înțelegi fără să poți întreba.

Drum bun, Alex.

[Yvette Cooper @YvetteCooperMP]

The country owes Sir Alex Younger an enormous debt of gratitude for his lifetime of dedicated service. His outstanding leadership, steadiness and integrity kept us all safe and I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family and his friends at this incredibly difficult time.

[Theresa May @theresa_may]

Deeply saddened by the death of Sir Alex Younger - an extraordinary man and dedicated public servant.

We worked closely when he was Chief of MI6 and remained friends in the years since. The nation owes him a great debt of gratitude. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

[David Lidington @DLidington]

Alex Younger was an outstanding public servant. After he retired, I was delighted when he agreed to join the board of @RUSI_org. Alex was always forward looking, urging RUSI to focus on new threats & on how technology was reshaping war and defence. He will be hugely missed.

[Simon Hoare MP @Simon4NDorset]

At “best” Jenrick is a political chameleon. Others words beginning with C might also be appropriate. I still remember him begging for my vote in the leadership (he called me on the day of the last MPs round) when he described Kemi as being too of the right & he was the moderate

[(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges]

This is brilliant. And significant. Normally Farage scares people into backing off. Kemi Badenoch is taking the fight directly to him. Good for her.

[David Lidington @DLidington]

I rather think that Jenrick has reached a point where he's incapable of embarrassment, however much others see that he's misrepresenting @KemiBadenoch's comments

[David Gauke @DavidGauke]

This is embarrassing.

[Gavin Barwell @GavinBarwell]

Really good to see @KemiBadenoch calling @Nigel_Farage out for his disgraceful remarks last night - whilst at the same time making it clear what needs to change in the light of the appalling police treatment of Henry Nowak. This is what leadership looks like

[David Cameron @David_Cameron]

This terrible news has really knocked me for six. Alex Younger was a truly outstanding Head of MI6 during my time as PM and an exemplary public servant. He has been taken from us far too soon.

Due to the nature of their work, few fully understand the service and sacrifice made by those working in our intelligence and security services - but be in no doubt, Alex made our country a safer place and we all owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for that.

I had the privilege to continue working with Alex and to remain good friends after we both left office; I will miss him dreadfully. He was a remarkable man - tremendously knowledgable and insightful, but also such fantastic company and fun to be with. Kind, thoughtful; a good man in every sense.

At a time when our world is more confrontational, volatile and, frankly, dangerous, his expertise and great wisdom will be deeply missed. My thoughts and prayers are with Sarah and his family at this sad time.

https://t.co/jbGkmTjfUr

[Kemi Badenoch @KemiBadenoch]

The news about Sir Alex Younger has hit really hard. I met him just once. In February this year, he was the keynote speaker at our parliamentary away day.

He was superb.

I wished he had been in government when I was in cabinet. Even in retirement he was studiously apolitical. Yet the depth of knowledge, expertise and his sheer love of the United Kingdom and deep commitment to her defence and safety shone through with his remarks and answers to even the most knotty questions.

He gave candid advice on how to use our time in opposition to get ready for defence and national security in this new geopolitical era.

So much of the recent policy work and research we have started and announced was based on his recommendations. There is so much to do and so little time.

It was a real privilege to have a long lunch with him that day. I am grateful for the time he spent with me and deeply sad to know our agreement to have further conversations will now not happen.

It is odd to feel such a loss for someone I only met once but his death is a loss not only of a remarkable man, but of the wisdom, insight and clarity he still had to offer.

He was a great man who loved, fought for and defended our country in ways we will never know.

May he rest in peace.

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

Truly morally sickening: that anyone should wish all of Ukraine to suffer the fate of Mariupol or Bucha. Russian occupation of Ukraine means random arrests, executions, concentration camps; the destruction of language and culture; mass kidnapping of children. All of these things have been documented in the occupied territories and continue to go on.