MI5’s deputy director, Jeremy Fleming, has been named the new head of GCHQ as the UK surveillance agency finds itself embroiled in a very public row with the White House over claims it helped eavesdrop on Donald Trump. He is expected to continue in the same vein as his predecessor, Robert Hannigan, who pushed GCHQ to be more transparent. He has been heavily involved in technology, including cyber security, and became MI5’s deputy director in 2013. Fleming said: “It is a great privilege to be asked to lead GCHQ as it approaches its centenary in 2019. The national security adviser, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, said Fleming was “a national security professional of the highest standard, who is widely respected across the national security community, in the UK and overseas.”

Source: The Guardian March 20, 2017 15:33 UTC