Scottish independence: Ex-MI6 boss terror warning

Sir John Scarlett claims a Scottish intelligence service would not 'offer the level of protection and support currently provided'. Picture: Contributed

Sir John Scarlett, who was head of the Secret Intelligence Service said that a new Scottish version of the UK’s network will “not offer the level of protection and support currently provided” in an article for the Times today.

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The ex-spy chief is a controversial figure who was behind the so-called “dodgy dossier” on Iraq which wrongly claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could hit the UK in 45 minutes.

“In my view the Scottish government proposals will not offer the level of protection and support currently provided by the highly sophisticated British security and intelligence agencies,” Sir John states.

He warned that the world is going through unstable times and we must “follow and understand jihadi extremism and related terrorist threats.”

He added: “These uncertainties affect all of us; none of the UK’s constituent nations is immune from their effects. The same is true for all Nato and EU countries, big and small.”