Exclusive: Sky's Man Goes Inside GCHQ
Updated: 11:04am UK, Monday 19 May 2014
By Tim Marshall, Diplomatic Editor
As I crossed the various levels of security required to get into GCHQ, signs went up around the building. Staff were warned that an outsider was inside, and to be aware of that if engaged in any sensitive conversations.
This rare access for a journalist appears to be part of a conscious but cautious effort to explain the workings of the intelligence agency, in the wake of the allegations by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
Most of the interior of Britain's signal intelligence agency looks similar to any large modern office building, but there are constant reminders of the extraordinary inside the ordinary.
This is true of the architecture. The building is referred to by both media and the intelligence community as "the doughnut".
From the outside it is somewhat foreboding, ringed by high fences topped with razor wire. But inside the colours are calming, the ceilings high, and the corridors surprisingly light.
The main internal circular corridor, known somewhat affectionately as "the street" is a busy thoroughfare and a reminder that thousands of people work here. GCHQ is Cheltenham's biggest employer.
On the ground floor, open plan offices look out on to a circular garden complete with water feature and smoking area.
From there you can see a variety of satellite dishes and myriad aerials perched on the roof of the second floor.
It is rumoured the design of the circular walls enclosing the garden were built in a way which limits how much sound from conversations will carry upwards in the direction of interested parties who might be listening high above the building.
Inside, the juxtaposition of the ordinary and extraordinary continues. Next to one of the coffee bars is a pop-up "help with your expenses" desk, which is near a small museum housing the first Enigma coding/decoding machine.
The contraption, which cracked the German codes in the Second World War was purchased in Berlin and brought to the UK in the 1930s, a move described as "the best £30 Britain has ever spent".
You can also find notes on JRR Tolkien's application to join the Bletchley Park code breakers. His services "were not called upon".
It is a state-of-the-art building, but there may be a few dents in the doughnut.
Staff are stirred, if not shaken in the aftermath of the Snowden furore. For more than a year now there have been allegations that they spend their time engaged in possibly illegal mass surveillance and bulk-trawling through our emails and phone calls.
Time and again officials repeated to me: "Everything we do is lawful, necessary, and proportionate."
This view was recently upheld by Sir Anthony May, the Interception of Communications Commissioner.
However, it appears the agency does indeed engage in scooping up vast amounts of data.
What was lost in the headlines was that officers do not actually look at the text of emails or listen to phone conversations without a warrant signed by a Cabinet Minister and overseen by senior members of the judiciary.
"Don't you actually think your hands are tied?" I asked a senior official, who replied: "Our hands are tied appropriately."
Another added: "We are not struggling against our bonds."
Despite the Snowden affair, and the possibility the agency did not act in the spirit of the laws governing it, the damage to public trust in Britain's spooks appears limited.
Polls suggest that a majority of the public appears not to be concerned about the powers held by GCHQ, nor its methods.
Nevertheless, the presence of a journalist inside the headquarters of an agency (which did not officially exist until the 1980s) indicates that management understands it needs to explain GCHQ more fully.
Staff appear to be at best irritated, and at worst hurt, by suggestions they have acted illegally. They are keen that there should be a better understanding of not just what they do, but why they do it.
For example, if the 'opposition' is developing weapons of various types, including surveillance weapons, it is part of their work to find out and develop counter measures.
About a third of analysts' work is in counter-terrorism. The rest is in cyber security, support for military operations, operations against serious criminals, and a variety of other tasks.
In the public domain, but not widely known, is the fact that more than 200 staff have been awarded medals for service in a military theatre.
Many of these have been won during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The staff were remarkably normal. Some in suits, some in shorts, none of them looking like Daniel Craig.
I did ask to see the "big room with the map of the world on a screen and a guy stroking a white cat" but permission was refused. The room does exist but, alas, the cat does not.
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