The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5),^[2] is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and Defence Intelligence (DI). All come under the direction of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). The service has a statutory basis in the Security Service Act 1989 and the Intelligence Services Act 1994. Its remit includes the protection of British parliamentary democracy and economic interests, counter-terrorism and counter-espionage within the UK. Although mainly concerned with internal security, it does have an overseas role in support of its mission. Conversely, to ensure that the Home Secretary is responsible for intelligence operations within the UK, the Service may act on behalf of SIS and GCHQ^{[citation needed]} even if the operation is outside its own functions (SIS and GCHQ report to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs).

Within the civil service community the service is colloquially known as Box 500 (after its official wartime address of PO Box 500; its current address is PO Box 3255, London SW1P 1AE).^[3]

The service has had a national headquarters at Thames House on Millbank in London since 1995, drawing together personnel from a number of locations into a single HQ facility. Thames House is shared with the Northern Ireland Office and is also home to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, a subordinate organisation to the Security Service. The service has offices across the United Kingdom including an HQ in Northern Ireland.^[4]

Details of the northern operations centre in Greater Manchester were revealed by the firm who built it.^[5] Repeated claims that the regional offices were instigated as a result of the "7/7" bombings in London in July 2005 are inaccurate; plans to open the northern operations centre were reported by The Manchester Evening News in February 2005,^[6] and plans to open a permanent Scottish office in Glasgow were reported by The Scotsman in January of that year.^[7]

Command, control and organisation[link]

The Security Service comes under the authority of the Home Secretary within the Cabinet.^[8] The service is headed by a Director General at the grade of a Permanent Secretary of the British Civil Service who is directly supported by an internal security organisation, secretariat, legal advisory branch and information services branch. The Deputy DG is responsible for the operational activity of the service, being responsible for four branches; international counter-terrorism, National Security Advice Centre (counter proliferation and counter espionage), Irish and domestic counter-terrorism and technical and surveillance operations.

The service is directed by the Joint Intelligence Committee^[9] for intelligence operational priorities and liaises with the SIS, GCHQ, DIS and a number of other bodies within the British government and industrial base. The service is overseen by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Members of Parliament, directly appointed by the Prime Minister, and by the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner. Judicial oversight of the service's conduct is excerised by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

Operations of the service are required to be proportionate and compliant with British legislation including Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Data Protection Act 1998 and various other items of legislation. Information held by the service is exempt from disclosure under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.^[10]

The current Director General is Jonathan Evans, who succeeded Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller on 8 April 2007.^[11]

The service has marked its centenary in 2009 by publishing an official history, written by Professor Christopher Andrew, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Cambridge University, published in hardback in October 2009 by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books.^[12]

History[link]

Early years[link]

The Security Service is derived from the Secret Service Bureau, founded in 1909 in a national climate of pre-war paranoia and possibly^{[weasel words][who?]} influenced by invasion literature to control secret intelligence operations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and overseas, particularly concentrating on the activities of the Imperial German government as a joint initiative of the Admiralty and the War Office. The Bureau was split into naval and army sections which, over time, specialised in foreign target espionage and internal counter-espionage activities respectively. This specialisation was a result of the Admiralty intelligence requirements related to the maritime strength of the Imperial German Navy. This specialisation was formalised prior to 1914 and the beginning of World War I, with the two sections undergoing a number of administrative changes and the home section becoming Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 5 (MI5), the name by which it is known in popular culture to this very day.

The founding head of the Army section was Captain Vernon Kell of the South Staffordshire Regiment, who remained in that role until the early part of the Second World War. Its role was originally quite restricted; existing purely to ensure national security through counter-espionage. With a small staff and working in conjunction with the Special Branch of the Metropolitan Police, the service was responsible for overall direction and the identification of foreign agents, whilst Special Branch provided the manpower for the investigation of their affairs, arrest and interrogation.

On the day after the declaration of war, the Home Secretary Reginald McKenna announced that "within the last twenty-four hours no fewer than twenty-one spies, or suspected spies, have been arrested in various places all over the country, chiefly in important military or naval centres, some of them long known to the authorities to be spies",^[13] a reference to arrests directed by the service. These arrests have provoked recent historical controversy. According to the official history of MI5, the actual number of agents identified was 22 and Kell had started sending out letters to local police forces on 29 July giving them advance warning of arrests to be made as soon as war was declared. Portsmouth Constabulary jumped the gun and arrested one on 3 August, and not all of the 22 were in custody by the time that McKenna made his speech, but the official history regards the incident as a devastating blow to Imperial Germany which deprived them of their entire spy ring, and specifically upset the Kaiser.^[14]

This view has been challenged by Nicholas Hiley who has asserted that it is a complete fabrication. In 2006 his article "Entering the Lists" was published in the journal Intelligence and National Security outlining the products of his research into recently opened files.^[15] Hiley was sent an advance copy of the official history and objected to the retelling of the story. He later wrote another article, "Re-entering the Lists", which asserted that the list of those arrested published in the official history^[16] was concocted from later case histories.^[17]

Inter-war period[link]

After this auspicious start, the history of MI5 becomes darker. It was consistently successful throughout the rest of the 1910s and the 1920s in its core counter-espionage role. Germany continued to attempt to infiltrate Britain throughout the war, but using a method that depended on strict control of entry and exit to the country and, crucially, large-scale inspection of mail, MI5 was able to identify most of, if not all of, the agents dispatched. In post-war years attention turned to attempts by the Soviet Union and the Comintern to surreptitiously support revolutionary activities within Britain, and MI5's expertise combined with the early incompetence of the Soviets meant the bureau was successful once more in correctly identifying and closely monitoring these activities.

However, in the meantime MI5's role had been substantially enlarged. Due to the spy hysteria, MI5 was formed with far more resources than it actually needed to track down German spies. As is common within governmental bureaucracies, this meant it expanded its role in order to use its spare resources. MI5 acquired many additional responsibilities during the war. Most significantly, its strict counter-espionage role was considerably blurred. It became a much more political role, involving the surveillance not merely of foreign agents but of pacifist and anti-conscription organisations, and organised labour. This was justified on the basis of the common (but mistaken) belief that foreign influence was at the root of these organisations. Thus by the end of the war, MI5 was a fully-fledged secret police (although it never had the powers of arrest), in addition to being a counter-espionage agency.

This expansion of its role continued after a brief post-war power struggle with the head of the Special Branch, Sir Basil Thomson. MI5 also managed to acquire responsibility for security operations not only in Great Britain but throughout the British Empire, and with the decline in the Empire the Security Officers based in the British High Commissions returned to London and joined the Service, which gave it a significant role in Ireland. MI5 now has a role similar to sections of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, if not as extensive, which includes counter terrorism and counter-espionage. This expansion had happened almost entirely without supervision; MI5 had no responsibility to Parliament, and was often able to act with considerable independence even from the Cabinet and Prime Minister. Since 1994, MI5 activities have been subject to scrutiny by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee.

MI5's operations during the Irish War of Independence were an unmitigated disaster. Due to MI5's penchant for sharing intelligence with the Dublin Metropolitan Police, its Irish operations were easily penetrated by the Irish Republican Army.^[18] Using D.M.P. Detectives Ned Broy and David Nelligan, Michael Collins was able to learn the names and lodgings of the MI5 agents of the Cairo Gang. On Bloody Sunday (1920), Collins ordered his private death squad to assassinate 14 MI5 agents at their lodgings throughout Dublin. That afternoon, a mixed force of the British Army the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the Black and Tans retaliated by shooting up a Gaelic Football match at Croke Park.

In the aftermath, MI5 ceased sharing intelligence with the D.M.P. In response, Collins persuaded Detective Nelligan to let himself be recruited into MI5. Although MI5's agents were shocked that a Catholic Irishman desired to work for them, Nelligan was formally sworn into the British Secret Service. He then memorized the oaths, codes, and lodgings of his fellow agents and passed the information on to Collins. Nelligan further delivered falsified reports stating that the IRA was far more numerous and better supplied with guns and ammunition than was actually the case. Nelligan would later recall in his memoirs that Collins was planning another Bloody Sunday style purge at the time a ceasefire ended the War.^[19] Ironically, Nelligan's misinformation about the IRA's numbers and supplies played a major role in the British Cabinet's decision to grant independence to the Irish Free State.

MI5 operated in Italy during inter-war period. MI5 helped Benito Mussolini get his start in politics with the £100 weekly wage.^[20]

MI5's decline in counter-espionage efficiency began in the 1930s. It was to some extent a victim of its own success; it was unable to break the ways of thinking it had evolved in the 1910s and 1920s, in particular, to adjust to the new methods of the Soviet intelligence services the NKVD and GRU. It continued to think in terms of agents who would attempt to gather information simply through observation or bribery, or to agitate within labour organisations or the armed services, while posing as ordinary citizens.

The NKVD, however, had evolved more sophisticated methods; it began to recruit agents from within the British nobility, most notably from Cambridge University, who were seen as a long-term investment. They succeeded in gaining positions within the Government (and, in Kim Philby's case, within British intelligence itself), from where they were able to provide the NKVD with sensitive information. The most successful of these agents—Harold "Kim" Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross—went undetected until after the Second World War, and were known as the Cambridge Five. See also Melita Norwood and Klaus Fuchs.

Second World War[link]

MI5 experienced further failure during the Second World War. It was chronically unprepared, both organisationally and in terms of resources, for the outbreak of war, and utterly unequal to the task which it was assigned—the large-scale internment of enemy aliens in an attempt to uncover enemy agents. The operation was poorly handled and contributed to the near-collapse of the agency by 1940.

One of the earliest actions of Winston Churchill on coming to power in early 1940 was to sack the agency's long-term head, Vernon Kell. He was replaced initially by the ineffective Brigadier A.W.A. Harker, as Acting Director General. Harker in turn was quickly replaced by David Petrie, an SIS man, with Harker as his deputy. With the ending of the Battle of Britain and the abandonment of invasion plans (correctly reported by both SIS and the Bletchley Park Ultra project), the spy scare eased, and the internment policy was gradually reversed. This eased pressure on MI5, and allowed it to concentrate on its major wartime success, the so-called "double-cross" system.

This was a system based on an internal memo drafted by an MI5 officer in 1936, which criticised the long-standing policy of arresting and sending to trial all enemy agents discovered by MI5. Several had offered to defect to Britain when captured; before 1939, such requests were invariably turned down. The memo advocated attempting to "turn" captured agents wherever possible, and use them to mislead enemy intelligence agencies. This suggestion was turned into a massive and well-tuned system of deception during the Second World War.

Beginning with the capture of an agent named Owens, codenamed Snow, MI5 began to offer enemy agents the chance to avoid prosecution (and thus the possibility of the death penalty) if they would work as British double-agents. Agents who agreed to this were supervised by MI5 in transmitting bogus "intelligence" back to the German secret service, the Abwehr. This necessitated a large-scale organisational effort, since the information had to appear valuable but actually be misleading. A high-level committee, the Wireless Board, was formed to provide this information. The day-to-day operation was delegated to a subcommittee, the Twenty Committee (so called because the Roman numerals for twenty, XX, form a double cross).

The system was extraordinarily successful. A postwar analysis of German intelligence records found that of the 115 or so agents targeted against Britain during the war, all but one (who committed suicide) had been successfully identified and caught, with several "turned" to become double agents. The system played a major part in the massive campaign of deception which preceded the D-Day landings, designed to give the Germans a false impression of the location and timings of the landings (see Operation Fortitude).

All foreigners entering the country were processed at the London Reception Centre (LRC) at the Royal Patriotic School which was operated by MI5 subsection B1D, 30,000 were inspected at LRC. Captured enemy agents were taken to Camp 020, Latchmere House, for interrogation. This was commanded by Colonel Robin Stephens. There was a Reserve Camp, Camp 020R, at Huntercombe which was used mainly for long term detention of prisoners.^[21]

Post-war: The Troubles in Northern Ireland[link]

The Prime Minister's personal responsibility for the Service was delegated to the Home Secretary Maxwell-Fyfe in 1952, with a directive issued by the Home Secretary setting out the role and objectives of the Director-General. The service was subsequently placed on a statutory basis in 1989 with the introduction of the Security Service Act. This was the first government acknowledgement of the existence of the service.

The post-war period was a difficult time for the Service with a significant change in the threat as the Cold War began, being challenged by an extremely active KGB and increasing incidence of the Northern Ireland conflict and international terrorism. Whilst little has yet been released regarding the successes of the service there have been a number of intelligence failures which have created embarrassment for both the service and the government.

In 1983 one of its officers, Michael Bettaney, was caught trying to sell information to the KGB. He was subsequently convicted of espionage. During the The Troubles in Northern Ireland Republicans, nationalists and the Irish Government accused MI5 and MI6 with supplying both the UVF and the UDA with intelligence and weapons; they both denied these accusations. Loyalist groups claim the Provisional Irish Republican Army was supplied by the CIA with weapons and intelligence to bomb and murder UVF and UDA members. They also claim the FBI turned a blind eye when Republicans came to the US for arms and failed to stop Irish Americans supplying them. The CIA and FBI both denied this, including many US presidents and Senators.

Following the Michael Bettaney case, Sir Philip Woodfield was appointed as a staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services. His role was to be available to be consulted by any member or former member of the security and intelligence services who had "anxieties relating to the work of his or her service"^[22] that it had not been possible to allay through the ordinary processes of management-staff relations, including proposals for publications.^[23]

The Service was instrumental in breaking up a large Soviet spy ring at the start of the 1970s, with 105 Soviet embassy staff known or suspected to be involved in intelligence activities being expelled from the country in 1971.

One episode involving MI5 and the BBC came to light in the mid-1980s. MI5 officer, Brigadier Ronnie Stonham, had an office in the BBC and took part in vetting procedures. See also Michael Rosen and Isabel Hilton.^[24]

Controversy arose when it was alleged that the service was monitoring trade unions and left-wing politicians. A file was kept on Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson from 1945, when he became an MP, although the agency's official historian, Christopher Andrew maintains that his fears of MI5 conspiracies and bugging were unfounded.^[25] As Home Secretary the Labour MP Jack Straw discovered the existence of his own file dating from his days as a student radical.

One of the most significant and far reaching failures was an inability to conclusively detect and apprehend the "Cambridge Five" spy ring which had formed in the inter-war years and achieved great success in penetrating the government, and the intelligence agencies themselves. Related to this failure were suggestions of a high-level penetration within the service, Peter Wright (especially in his controversial book Spycatcher) and others believing that evidence implicated the former Director-General himself, Roger Hollis. The Trend inquiry of 1974 cleared Hollis of that accusation, but it was later corroborated by the former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky. Another spy ring, the Portland Spy Ring, exposed after a tip-off by Soviet defector Michael Goleniewski, led to an extensive MI5 surveillance operation. The Special Branch of Scotland Yard played no part other than the physical apprehension of the suspects, despite some fanciful claims by Superintendent George Smith.

The Security Service's role in counter-terrorism[link]

Part of Thames House

The end of the Cold War resulted in a change in emphasis for the operations of the service, assuming responsibility for the investigation of all Irish republican activity within Britain and increasing the effort countering other forms of terrorism, particularly in more recent years the more widespread threat of Islamic extremism.

The service has been attributed with a number of successes in breaking up and monitoring extremist Islamist networks since 2001.

It is also attributed with successfully infiltrating the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), with operations in conjunction with Special Branch from various police forces leading to 21 convictions for terrorism-related offenses between 1992 and 1999.

Whilst the British security forces in Northern Ireland have provided support in the countering of both republican and loyalist paramilitary groups since the early 1970s, republican sources have often accused these forces of collusion with loyalists. In 2006, an Irish government committee inquiry found that there was widespread collusion between British security forces and loyalist terrorists in the 1970s, which resulted in eighteen deaths.^[26][27]

The Security Service took responsibility for all security intelligence work in Northern Ireland from 2007 from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Both Nuala O'Loan, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, and Al Hutchinson, the Oversight Commissioner of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, have expressed reservations. During April 2010 the Real IRA detonated a 120 lb. car bomb outside palace barracks in County Down which is the headquarters of MI5 in N. Ireland & also home to the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

With the emergence of other terrorist threats in the United Kingdom the service has increased its resource commitment to the detection and prevention of these activities. Numerous raids against suspected militants, and the internment of key suspects in HM Prison Belmarsh in London, have been credited to Security Service intelligence. It has been reported that Security Service officers have been involved in interrogation of British citizens interned at the United States' Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba.^{[citation needed]}

Executive Liaison Groups enable MI5 to safely share secret, sensitive, and often raw intelligence with the police, on which decisions can be made about how best to gather evidence and prosecute suspects in the courts. Each organization works in partnership throughout the investigation, but MI5 retain the lead for collecting, assessing and exploiting intelligence. The police take lead responsibility for gathering evidence, obtaining arrests and preventing risks to the public.^[28]

Serious crime[link]

In 1996, legislation formalised the extension of the Security Service's statutory remit to include supporting the law enforcement agencies in their work against serious crime.^[29] Tasking was reactive, acting at the request of law enforcement bodies such as the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), for whom MI5 agents performed electronic surveillance and eavesdropping duties during Operation Trinity.^[29] This role has subsequently been passed to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

Surveillance[link]

In July 2006, Norman Baker MP accused the British Government of "hoarding information about people who pose no danger to this country", after it emerged that MI5 holds secret files on 272,000 individuals—equivalent to one in 160 adults.^[30] It was later revealed that a "traffic light" system operates:^[31][32]

• Green: active—about 10% of files
• Amber: enquiries prohibited, further information may be added—about 46% of files.
• Red: enquiries prohibited, substantial information may not be added—about 44% of files

Directors-General of the Security Service[link]

• 1909–1940: Sir Vernon Kell (from 1919, Sir Vernon Kell) (b. 1873–d. 1942)
• 1940–1941: Brigadier Oswald Allen Harker (b. 1886–d. 1968)
• 1941–1946: Sir David Petrie (b. 1879–d. 1961)
• 1946–1953: Sir Percy Sillitoe (b. 1888–d. 1962)
• 1953–1956: Sir Dick White (from 1955, Sir Dick White) (b. 1906–d. 1993)
• 1956–1965: Sir Roger Hollis (from 1960, Sir Roger Hollis) (b. 1905–d. 1973)
• 1965–1972: Sir Martin Furnival Jones (from 1967, Sir Martin Furnival Jones) (b. 1912–d. 1997)
• 1972–1979: Sir Michael Hanley (from 1974, Sir Michael Hanley) (b. 1918–d. 2001)
• 1979–1981: Sir Howard Smith (b. 1919–d. 1996)
• 1981–1985: Sir John Jones (b. 1923–d. 1998)
• 1985–1988: Sir Antony Duff (b. 1920–d. 2000)
• 1988–1992: Sir Patrick Walker (from 1990, Sir Patrick Walker) (b. 1932)
• 1992–1996: Dame Stella Rimington (from 1996, Dame Stella Rimington) (b. 1935)
• 1996–2002: Sir Stephen Lander (from 2000, Sir Stephen Lander) (b. 1947)
• 2002–2007: Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller (now Baroness Manningham-Buller; b. 1948)
• 2007–present: Jonathan Evans^[33]

Past names of the Security Service[link]

Although commonly referred to as "MI5", this was the Service's official name for only thirteen years (1916–29). However, as an acknowledgment of popular thought, "MI5" is used as a sub-title on the various pages of the official Security Service website (see links, below).

• October 1909: Founded as the Home Section of the Secret Service Bureau.
• April 1914: Became a subsection of the War Office Directorate of Military Operations, section 5 (MO5)—MO5(g).
• September 1916: Became Military Intelligence section 5—MI5.
• 1929: Renamed the Defence Security Service.
• 1931: Renamed the Security Service.

See also[link]

• Club de Berne
• Counter Terrorism Command, Scotland Yard
• GCHQ
• Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre
• Lucy spy ring—alleged to have been a British/Ultra operation to the USSR
• MI6
• Special Branch
• Spooks—a BBC television drama about the work of a group of MI5 officers (renamed MI-5 in the United States)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Andrew, Christopher (2009). The Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5. Allen Lane. ISBN 1-84614-284-9.  Published in the USA on November 2009 by Knopf as Defend the Realm. The Authorised History of MI5. ISBN 978-0-307-26363-6.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Records of the Security Service on The National Archives' website.
• UK Intelligence Community On Line

v t e United Kingdom intelligence agencies and organisations Current agencies Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) Security Service (MI5) Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) Defunct agencies MI1 (code breaking) MI2 (geographic info) MI3 (geographic info) MI4 (maps and aerial photos) MI7 (propaganda) MI8 (signals intelligence) MI9 (resistance aid) MI10 (technical analysis) MI11 (military security) MI12 (censorship) MI14 (Germany desk) MI15 (aerial defence) MI16 (scientific intelligence) MI17 (secretariat) MI19 (interrogation) Naval Intelligence Division Committee of Imperial Defence Directorate of Military Intelligence

Coordinates: 51°29′38.3″N 0°07′32.2″W / 51.493972°N 0.125611°W / 51.493972; -0.125611

Jimmy Carr
Birth name	James Anthony Patrick Carr
Born	(1972-09-15) 15 September 1972 (age 39) Limerick, Ireland[1]
Medium	Stand-up, Television
Nationality	British Irish
Years active	2000–present
Influences	George Carlin, Michael Redmond, Denis Leary, Paul Merton, Peter Kay, Will Self, Billy Connolly, Demetri Martin.[2]
Domestic partner(s)	Karoline Copping (2001-present)
Notable works and roles	8 Out of 10 Cats Distraction The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 10 O'Clock Live
Website	jimmycarr.com
British Comedy Awards
Best Live Stand Up 2006– Gag Reflex

James Anthony Patrick "Jimmy" Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-born British comedian and humourist. He is known for his deadpan delivery, dark humour and his use of edgy one-liners. He is also a writer, actor and presenter of radio and television.

Carr moved to a career in comedy in 2000.^[3] After becoming established as a stand-up comedian, Carr began to appear in a number of Channel 4 television shows, most notably as the host of the panel show 8 out of 10 Cats. In Ireland he is known for appearances on The Panel and The Late Late Show.

Personal life[link]

Carr was born in Limerick, Ireland to parents Patrick James (born March 1945), a Roman Catholic and self-made millionaire who became treasurer for computer company Unisys,^[4] and Nora Mary (née Lawlor,^[5] 19 September 1943^[6] – 7 September 2001), who died of pancreatitis in St Thomas' Hospital, London, aged 57.^[4] His parents married in 1970, separated in 1994, but never divorced.^[7] His father married Natasha in 2003.^[4] Carr has an older brother, Colin, and a younger brother, Patrick.^[4] Carr was educated at Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe. he also attended St Bernards's Catholic Grammar School also in Slough. Carr's father was not happy with the school so moved him to Burnham Grammar School

After schooling in Slough he gained a place at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a 2:1 degree in Political Sciences.^[3][8] Carr was a marketing executive for Shell^{[9][dead link]} in the late 1990s.^[4] During an appearance on BBC's Would I Lie to You? (Series 1, Episode 3), Carr revealed that he had been a Christian until his mid-twenties, and remained a virgin until the age of 26^[10] due to his faith. Carr became aware of the writings of Richard Dawkins and renounced his religion, becoming an atheist. He stated that he felt religion limited people's desires to live their own lives.^[11] He also stated that at this time, to help him cope with his loss of faith he did a lot of psychotherapy, and ended up qualifying as a therapist.^[12]

Carr lives in North London with his girlfriend, Karoline Copping, a commissioning editor for Five,^[3] whom he has been with since 2001.^[10]

In March 2004, Carr's father^[13] was arrested by the Metropolitan Police after Carr and his brother Colin accused their father of harassment.^{[clarification needed]} The senior Carr was later acquitted of all charges and awarded costs by the Court. His acquittal was followed by a written apology from the CPS. Later the Metropolitan Police apologised and paid him substantial damages in an out of court settlement for the arrest and prosecution.^[14][15] Carr holds dual British-Irish citizenship.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Television[link]

Whilst working at JC Productions with his father, Carr made his first television pilot / short film at Pinewood starring Craig Charles, Roy Dotrice and himself. The mockumentary, The Colour of Funny was essentially a vanity project for Carr.^{[citation needed]}

Hosting[link]

Carr has hosted Channel 4 game shows Distraction and Your Face or Mine?. He has also presented the 100s series of programmes for Channel 4: 100 Worst Pop Records, 100 Worst Britons, 100 Greatest Cartoon Characters, 100 People Who Look Most Like Jimmy Carr (a spoof) and 100 Scary Moments. He has also presented a series of Commercial Breakdown.

From 2004 to 2006, Carr hosted a United States version of Distraction for Comedy Central. He was also nominated for the 2006 Rose d'Or award for Best Game Show Host. Carr presents the Big Fat Quiz of the Year on Channel 4, having presented the first 8 shows each December (2004–2011). He also currently hosts the quiz show 8 out of 10 Cats.

In April 2010, Carr hosted the first British version of a comedy roast show, Channel 4's A Comedy Roast. On 6 May 2010, he was a co-host of Channel 4's Alternative Election Night, along with David Mitchell, Lauren Laverne, and Charlie Brooker. He joined the three presenters again for 10 O'Clock Live, a Channel 4 comedy current affairs show, which started airing on 20 January 2011.^[16]

Writing[link]

Carr is also a writer as well as performer, with writing credits including Bo' Selecta! (C4), Meet Ricky Gervais (C4) and material for Lily Savage and Frank Skinner.

Guest appearances[link]

Carr was a guest presenter for one edition of Have I Got News For You; later he joined Ian Hislop's team in the edition of the show first shown 23 November 2007, chaired by Ann Widdecombe with whom he “flirted” outrageously.^{[citation needed]} Widdecombe later vowed "I will never appear on Have I Got News for You again."^{[citation needed]}

Carr has appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks twice, as well as multiple times on QI. He has also been appeared on at least one episode per season of A League of Their Own.

During a guest appearance on the BBC motoring show Top Gear, Carr set a new celebrity test track lap record on the 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment. He was described as "the worst driver we've ever had" and "the luckiest man alive" by Top Gear's test driver the Stig. His re-appearance on Top Gear in May 2006 placed him last in the brand new Reasonably Priced Car, with the slowest time ever (due to the fact that he spun off on his timed lap). Carr also hosted a highlights edition of the show, and on the Top Gear Live World Tour of 2009/10 he hosted the section 'Carmageddon' in which the Stig successfully attempted a 'gear change'.

In the United States, Carr has appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien twice and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno three times. Carr has also appeared on the Irish news comedy show The Panel.

In 2003, Carr was in the music video for the song "Proper Crimbo".

Carr appears at the end credits of Ross Noble's Randomist DVD, where he punches Noble on his way back to the dressing room. Noble had joked in his show that Carr only performed for a "weak" 1 hour 20 minutes, as opposed to Noble's 2 and a half hour show. Carr can also be seen for a few seconds in the audience for Dara Ó Briain's live DVD.

In January 2008, Carr appeared on E4 show Big Brother Celebrity Hijack as a hijacker for the day.

Carr appeared on the Royal Variety Performance in December 2008.

On the gameshow Deal or No Deal, Jimmy was the first ever contestant in the 2012 celebrity editions. After losing the £250,000 box earlier in the game, and turning down an offer from the banker for £14,500, he continued to the end game and his box contained £750.

Radio[link]

Carr is a regular guest and interviewer on Loose Ends (BBC Radio 4) and The Fred MacAulay Show (BBC Radio Scotland). In January 2005, Carr hosted 'It's Been a Terrible Year' — a comedy review of 2004, on BBC Radio 2. Up until July 2006, he had a Sunday morning radio show on XFM, with the mercurial comedian Iain Morris. The show had a strong emphasis on toilet humour.

Features, of varying popularity, have included:

• Goth Classics — Item lasting about four weeks in which the Sisters of Mercy track 'This Corrosion' was played twice.
• Now That's What I Call A Jukebox — Long running item invented by Iain Morris where a number of songs are selected from a Now That's What I Call Music album, and are put to a vote. The song with the most votes is played.
• The Songs You Should Like And The Songs You Do Like (But You Like The Song You Should Like As Well) — This catchy-titled item consists of playing in sequence one credible but underrated or overlooked song (The first was 'Touch Sensitive' by the Fall) and one guilty pleasure (Liberty X's 'Just A Little Bit' followed) On 9 July 2006, the item was renamed 'A Song to Patronise, A Song To Sanitise.' Traditionally, items are carried out with little professionalism, presumably to match the rest of the show content.

In January 2006, Carr made a joke on Radio 4's Loose Ends, the punchline of which implied that Gypsy women smelled.^[17] Although the BBC issued an apology, Carr refused to, and continues to use the joke during his acts.

Carr appeared in 2 episodes of the radio series of Flight of the Conchords in 2005.

On 22 January 2009, he covered Zane Lowe's evening show on BBC Radio 1 between 7 and 9pm.

Carr will become the fifth "Curator" of The Museum of Curiosity when the show returns in late 2012, following on from comedians Bill Bailey, Sean Lock, Jon Richardson and Dave Gorman.

Stand-up comedy[link]

Carr performing during his Jimmy Carr: Joke Technician tour at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in January 2009

Carr does stand-up tours continuously over the course of the year, taking only five weeks off between them.^[18] In 2003 he sold out an entire month's performances of his Edinburgh Festival show Charm Offensive by the second day of the festival, and received 5-star reviews from four major newspapers. In 2004 he performed sold out solo shows at Dublin's Vicar Street, Leicester's Comedy Festival, Glasgow Festival, Kilkenny Cat Laughs and the Galway Festival along with appearances at the Bloomsbury Theatre where he filmed his first live DVD. Also in 2004 he threatened to sue fellow comedian Jim Davidson for using a joke that Carr considered 'his'.^[19] The matter was dropped when it became apparent that the joke in question was an old one used for decades by many different comedians. He toured the country with his show, A Public Display of Affection, starting on 9 April 2005 at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury and ending on the 14 January 2006 at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End. He also appeared at the EICC during the Edinburgh Festival in August 2005 with his Off The Telly show. Later on in the year, in late November, he released his second DVD "Jimmy Carr: Stand Up".

In August 2006, he commenced a new tour, Gag Reflex, for which he won the 2006 British Comedy Award for "Best Live Stand up". He released his third DVD, Jimmy Carr: Comedian in November 2007. He also performed at the 2006 Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, as well as making a return visit to the Newbury Comedy Festival. In 2003, he was listed in the Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2007, a poll on the Channel 4 website for 100 Greatest Stand Ups, Jimmy Carr was the 12th. A new national tour commenced in autumn 2007 named Repeat Offender, which began at the Edinburgh Festival that year. In autumn 2008, Carr began touring his new show, entitled Joke Technician. As with his previous tour, he performed many shows at the Edinburgh Festival, even adding an extra date due to ticket demand.

On 23 April 2009, the dates for Carr's 2009-10 tour, entitled Rapier Wit, were announced. The tour opened on 20 August 2009 with 9 shows at the Edinburgh Festival before touring the country.^[20]

On Twitter, Carr released details about his new DVD entitled Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes. The DVD was released on the 2 November 2009.^[21]

In July 2009, Carr revealed that he is currently touring with Las Vegas band the Killers. Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers explained that it was part of his vision for his band’s shows to become more of a Las Vegas-style spectacle. Flowers, who grew up in Vegas, said: “We had met Jimmy before, at a Comic Relief gig, then we bumped into him again at a party a couple of weeks later. “We were just throwing ideas around and having a comedian as part of the show sounded like a Las Vegas thing to do — it used to be common in the '60s and '70s – “Jimmy seemed to like it so we are giving it a go.”

Carr's sixth Live DVD, Jimmy Carr: Making People Laugh, was released on 8 November 2010.^[22]

Carr's 2010-11 tour, entitled Laughter Therapy, was announced on 8 April 2010. The tour will start with a run at the Edinburgh Festival before touring the country.^[23]

Carr also appeared at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal in July 2011. At which he performed his 2010/11 tour show 'Laughter Therapy'.

Carr's latest stand up DVD was released on 21 November 2011 with the title of Jimmy Carr: Being Funny.^[24]

Live Tour Shows[link]

DVD releases[link]

[edit] Second Life

On 21 December 2006, Carr announced plans to become the first major comedian to perform in the virtual reality world of Second Life. This was confirmed on his MySpace webpage on 3 January 2007, and a competition launched to choose a select audience from the list of his MySpace friends.^[25]

Carr's Second Life show took place on 3 February 2007 at 7.00pm, at Adam Street Bar and Members' Club in Central London. Fifty MySpace friends made up his live audience, with 100 virtual attendees in Second Life itself. The show was enjoyed by both sets of audiences, with excellent feedback received on both Carr's MySpace profile and within Second Life.^{[citation needed]}

Carr hinted at the show that he may perform future shows in Second Life.

In March 2007, Laura Jackson from the Guinness Book of World Records confirmed that Carr had obtained the world record for being the first comedian to perform a stand-up gig to an audience in cyberspace, following on from his Second Life show.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy[link]

This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (March 2011)

Detractors of Carr's humour include Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe, who — following an appearance with him on BBC One panel show Have I Got News for You — wrote in the Daily Express that "His idea of wit is a barrage of filth and the sort of humour most men grow out of in their teens".^[26]

Veteran comedian Arthur Smith was quoted in the Sunday Mirror in 2005 as saying "He has a terrible act. There I've said it and already I feel better".^[27] Smith has gone on to criticise Carr on other occasions. In a 2009 interview with The Times he said: "He (Carr) makes jokes like little clocks. He has no interest in their context or meaning, only that they cause an explosion of laughter. I want a comedian to have a hinterland. The best comedians are interested in jazz, poetry, and the world".^[28]

In October 2009, Carr received criticism from several Sunday tabloid newspapers for a joke he made about British soldiers who had lost limbs in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.^[29] The newspapers themselves came under criticism for falsely claiming the audience reacted with stunned silence when the joke was told.^[30] Carr himself has defended the joke as "totally acceptable" in an interview with The Guardian, in which the interviewer noted his tendencies to make jokes about disabilities and rape.^[31] Carr would go on to describe the interview, with Guardian journalist Stephen Moss in the paper's G2 section, on his Twitter account as about "[selling] my DVD to the liberal elite."^[32]

Awards[link]

• LAFTA Awards 2008: Best Stand Up
• LAFTA Awards 2007: Funniest Man
• British Comedy Awards 2006 – Best Live Stand Up
• Rose D'Or Nomination 2006: Best Game Show, 'Distraction'
• LAFTA Awards 2005: Funniest Man
• Rose D'Or Nomination 2004: Best Presenter, 'Distraction'
• Loaded Lafta Award 2004 – Best Stand Up
• Royal Television Society Award Winner: Best On-Screen Newcomer 2003
• Perrier Award Nominee: 2002
• Time Out Award Winner: Best Stand Up 2002

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jimmy Carr

• Official website
• Jimmy Carr at the Internet Movie Database
• Jimmy Carr on Twitter
• Jimmy Carr on Chortle, including forthcoming tour dates

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (September 2011)

The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints. Please improve the article or discuss the issue. (September 2011)

Annie Machon (born 1968) is a former British Security Service (MI5) intelligence officer who left the Service at the same time as David Shayler, her partner at the time, to help him blow the whistle about alleged criminality within the intelligence agencies. By doing this, they had to give up their careers, go on the run across Europe, live in hiding for a year, and then spend the next two years in exile in Paris. They, and many of their friends, family, supporters and journalists, claim to have been intimidated, and some of them were arrested, and put on trial. A death threat was announced against her on a middle eastern radio station.

In 2005, Machon published her first book, Spies, Lies and Whistleblowers: MI5, MI6 and the Shayler Affair in which she offers criticism of the Security Service and Secret Intelligence Service based on her observations of the two whilst in the employment of MI5. Machon has been accused by some of being involved with conspiracy theories.

Early life[link]

Machon read Classics at Cambridge University and after her academic years started a career in publishing.

MI5[link]

In 1991 she was recruited by MI5 where she was posted to their counter-subversion department, officially known 'F2'. It was there she met Shayler. She then spent two years working in 'T' Branch, investigating Irish terrorism, before being reposted to the international counter-terrorist division, known as 'G Branch'. In 1996 she and Shayler resigned to blow the whistle on a series of alleged crimes committed by the spies. These include:

• Alleged secret MI5 files held on the very government ministers responsible for overseeing the intelligence services.
• Allegedly illegal MI5 phone taps.
• Alleged lying to government by MI5.
• IRA bombs that allegedly should and could have been prevented.
• The 1994 bombing of the Israeli embassy in London, when two innocent people were allegedly wrongfully convicted.
• The alleged attempted MI6 assassination of Colonel Gaddafi of Libya

After MI5[link]

Drawing on her varied experiences, she is now a intelligence expert,^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} author, journalist,^[7][8] international tour and event organiser, political campaigner,^[9][10] media trainer, and PR consultant. She is also a recognised international public speaker on a variety of intelligence-related and civil liberties issues.^[11]

In 2006 Machon ended her relationship with Shayler due to his alleged use of hallucinogenics and his claims that he is the Messiah. She has worked for 9/11 Truth campaign and We Are Change. In 2009 she worked for Make Wars History. Machon is featured in Last Man Out, a 90-minute documentary movie by Jonathan Kerr-Smith about William Rodriguez.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Machon, A. (2005). Spies, Lies and Whistleblowers: MI5 and the David Shayler Affair. Book Guild Ltd. ISBN 1-85776-952-X
• "The spy who loved me"; Stuart Jeffries; The Guardian, 15 November 2002. Retrieved on 8 April 2008.
• "No place to hide"; Sabine Durrant; The Guardian, 3 April 2000. Retrieved on 8 April 2008.
• "International speaker"
• "David Shayler's former partner reveals: How the bullying State crushed him"; Annie Machon; The Daily Mail, 11 August 2007. Retrieved on 8 April 2008.
• whistleblower and his girl split up; Jason Lewis; The Daily Mail, 6 January 2007. Retrieved on 8 April 2008.
• Anniemachon.com