Charles Farr
Sir Charles Blandford Farr, (15 July 1959 – 15 February 2019) was a British civil servant, MI6 officer, and diplomat. He was Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation at the Cabinet Office until his death in February 2019.[1][2] Before that, from 2007 until 2015 Farr was the Director of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT) at the Home Office.[3]
Farr joined the Diplomatic Service in 1985, serving in South Africa and Jordan.[4]
According to the Sunday Times, Farr was a career MI6 officer, who worked with MI5 on joint operations in the Middle East, and rose to become 'CT' - head of the service's counter-terrorism department.[5]
Between 2003 and 2007 he held a number of senior posts in Whitehall dealing with security and counter-terrorism.[6]
Farr took up his post as Director General of the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism on 16 July 2007.[7] The new appointment led to a downgrading of the role of the Security Adviser to the Prime Minister in the Cabinet Office.[8]
In September 2008, Farr was tipped to succeed John Scarlett as head of MI6.[9]
In February 2009, Farr told a private briefing of MPs that CIA agents were working on counter-terrorism in the UK.[10] A redacted version of his evidence was published by the Home Affairs Select Committee in June 2009.[11]
In March 2009, Farr delivered the annual Colin Cramphorn Memorial Lecture at Policy Exchange.[12]
Charles Farr receives a salary of £135,000 - £139,000 per annum.[13]
Views
On Scotland
In a June 2008 interview with Holyrood magazine, Farr said that independence would not necessarily make Scotland more vulnerable to terrorism:
- It is not something that has crossed my mind that there is something inherent about independence that would make Scotland unsafe. I would add that there is nothing inherent about independence that would make Scotland more safe, either. That’s quite an important point.[14]
External Resources
- Christopher Hope, Theresa May under pressure to sack top adviser in row over ban on Muslim preacher, telegraph.co.uk, 19 October 2010.
- Paul Goodman, Quilliam to close, conservativehome, 16 December 2010.
- Sunday Times: Profile of Charles Farr - is he personally responsible for CCDP snooping plans etc. ?, spyblog.org.uk, 22 April 2012.
- Esther Addley, Charles Farr - GCHQ's next spymaster general?, theguardian.com, 13 April 2014.
Notes
- ↑ Sir Charles Farr, head of the Joint Intelligence Committee whose proposals for a 'snooper's charter' were attacked by civil liberties campaigners – obituary The Daily Telegraph 18 February 2019
- ↑ Joint Intelligence Committee Chair dies: Charles Farr – Press releases – Government of the United Kingdom
- ↑ David Leppard Chief snooper pops out of the shadows Sunday Times 22 April 2012.
- ↑ Appointment Of Director General Of The Office For Security & Counter-Terrorism, Home Office, 6 July 2007.
- ↑ David Leppard, Terror chief tipped to head MI6, Sunday Times, 21 September 2008.
- ↑ Appointment Of Director General Of The Office For Security & Counter-Terrorism, Home Office, 6 July 2007.
- ↑ Appointment Of Director General Of The Office For Security & Counter-Terrorism, Home Office, 6 July 2007.
- ↑ Michael Evans and Richard Ford, New anti-terror chief is building elite team, The Times, 30 August 2007.
- ↑ David Leppard, Terror chief tipped to head MI6, Sunday Times, 21 September 2008.
- ↑ Alan Travis, CIA at work in UK, anti-terror chief tells MPs, guardian.co.uk, 2 October 2009.
- ↑ Project CONTEST: The Government’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy (pdf), Home Affairs Select Committee, House of Commons, 29 June 2009.
- ↑ The Third annual Colin Cramphorn Memorial Lecture, Policy Exchange, 7 August 2009.
- ↑ Director General Office of Security and Counter terrorism, Linked Data API, accessed 09 October 2011
- ↑ Mandy Rhodes, Tough on terror, Holyrood, Issue 193, 16 June 2008, p21.
