Conspiratorial minds

[bunn]

I heard a trailer for some event where John le Carré was speaking, in which he said that one of the odd things about Britain is that the majority of people, if they are asked by British Intelligence 'can we come in and use your upstairs, we can't tell you anything about it' will, if reassured the request is genuinely from British Intelligence, say

Comments

[bunn]

I don't see why you can't vote - after all, British Intelligence *might* come and spy wherever you are?

I should have put in a 'would you feel differently about the CIA?' question!

[rustica]

I would totally say yes because, well, it would be just like something out of a le Carre novel! And what's the point of being part of something exciting if you can't tell anyone?

[bunn]

MY VERY THOUGHTS!

I wonder how much Le Carre has himself contributed to the conspiratorial nature of the British. I'd not previously thought about it, but my mental image of British Intelligence is SO much more positive than my attitude to, say, the CIA, even though I really have nothing much to base this on beyond fiction.

[lil_shepherd]

Though I have to say that, when I was with Customs, there was a story told to me by an Investigations officer, that he once was on surveillance in a car on a posh street, waiting for someone to clear a building.

Then there was knock on the car window - it was Paul Daniels, the magician, asking him if he would like a cup of tea...

[bunn]

I hope he pulled the teapot and teacup out of his sleeve...

[ozisim]

I'm not patriotic, and I've worked too long in the media to be conspiratorial.
But I'd let them because I like helping people.
And on our street, using our house makes the most sense.

... And I doubt we would have a problem with break ins if they were here.

[pellegrina]

Haven't got an upstairs...

[bunn]

I don't know if Le Carre assumes that everyone has an upstairs, or if he just meant that attempts to spy from the ground floor were doomed to failure on the grounds of poor visibility.