How I found out my dad was a real spy :
So then he explained to me that his title, councillor
(political) at the British embassy in Washington, was just "cover".
He was in fact the head of station for what I would know as MI6,
but what the organisation itself preferred to call the SIS – the
Secret Intelligence Service.
Dad outlined the differences between the SIS and the domestic
intelligence service MI5. The SIS had an "intelligence-gathering"
remit, with no powers to work inside the UK, while MI5 had the job
of "counter-intelligence", defending the country on its own soil
from the depredations of foreign spies, mainly of their mutual
enemy, the Soviet KGB.
He also explained that British intelligence agencies and
their members were known as "The Friends" and the CIA as "The
Cousins", and that his job in Washington was to liaise between
"Friends" and "Cousins": between the SIS's home in London and CIA
headquarters at Langley, Virginia. His position was an extremely
senior one.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/how-i-found-out-my-dad-was-a-mi6-spy-abcs-mark-colvin-20161018-gs52de.html
