What was the British equivalent of the CIA?

Answer 1

The equivalent to CIA is the co-operation of the Joint Intelligence Committee, the Home Office, and the police. The purpose of the intelligence services in the United Kingdom is only to collect intelligence on suspicious persons. The officers of the Secret Service (also known as MI5 - Military Intelligence department 5) and Secret Intelligence Service (formerly MI6) do not actually apprehend suspects or make decisions.

The Home Office makes the major decisions, such as deployment of special forces, e.g. the SAS's deployment to the Iranian embassy in 1980. The Secret Services will inform the Home Office of evidence it has gathered, and make a recommendation to the Home Office, which will then decide the action to take.

When a service has enough intelligence on someone to make a case and possibly gain a warrant to enter their building, then police will be informed and sent to carry out the arrest. The case will then be made in court, where evidence collected by the intelligence services will be given. People may then be arrested or deported, depending on the situation.

So to put it simply, there is no one equivalent to the CIA. It is the co-operation of many different agencies. For example, there was a time in London when MI5 suspected some people of terrorism. They used intelligence officers to observe and eavesdrop, and when they felt they had enough evidence, three units of the Metropolitan Police Service's CO19 - Central Operations department 19 - were deployed to apprehend them.

CO19 is merely the armed police of London, however - they are not directly involved with intelligence gathering. As an example, CO19 would also be called if someone was in possession of illicit firearms.

For more information on the main intelligence services of the UK, visit their websites listed in Related Links.

There, you will also find useful information that will explain exactly what they do, and various myths that form around them as secretive organisations.

Answer 2

The Security Service (MI5) deals with Domestic Intelligence, and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) deals with Overseas Intelligence.