Spy chiefs deny surveilling the UK public
Heads of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ make rare appearance, claiming they defend freedom and that Edward Snowden's leaks aided 'terrorists'
Britain's top spy chiefs claimed in a rare televised appearance yesterday that the intelligence leaks by Edward Snowden had left its enemies "rubbing their hands with glee" and caused terror groups to change the way they communicate.
The heads of foreign spy agency MI6, its domestic counterpart MI5 and electronic eavesdropping agency GCHQ also denied in their evidence to parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee that Britons were subject to mass surveillance.
In a hearing held under tight security and with a two-minute time delay to prevent accidental disclosures, MI6 boss John Sawers said: "The leaks from Snowden have been very damaging, they put our operations at risk. Our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. Al-Qaeda is lapping it up."
GCHQ boss Iain Lobban added that the revelations by the fugitive US leaker had led "terrorist groups" in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere to modify the way they communicate.
We do not spend our time listening to the phone calls … of the majority
"We have intelligence on [and] we have actually seen chat around specific terrorist groups, including closer to home, discussing how to avoid what they now perceive to be vulnerable communications methods," Lobban said.
Snowden, a former US National Security Agency contractor who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, has revealed massive US electronic surveillance programmes in recent months, sending shockwaves around the world.
