Only ethnic minorities can apply for work experience at MI5, MI6, and GCHQ
The UK’s intelligence agencies have been accused of “overt racism” for excluding white British students from their summer internship programs. The agencies argue that the exclusionary policy is “lawful,” and is intended to attract people from “under-represented groups” into intelligence work.
Every year, MI5, MI6, and GCHQ offer students the chance to work “at the heart of national security” over 11-week internships. According to an advertisement, those working at MI5 will get to “investigate and disrupt international terrorism,” those at MI6 will join “our exciting mission teams,” and the students at GCHQ will “use bespoke technology” to analyze phone and internet records.
Next year’s internships, however, are open only to ethnic minorities from economically deprived backgrounds.
Only “black, black British, Asian or Asian British, Mixed-Heritage” or members of “other ethnic minority groups” may apply, the advert states. The only white candidates welcome are members of “other white” groups, such as “Romany Gypsy, Scottish or Irish Travellers,” it states.
Furthermore, applicants must have grown up in a home where the main earner was either a tradesperson, a casual or service employee, or unemployed.
The ad was condemned by Conservative MP Chris Philp. “I understand the need to encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds,” he said in a statement on Saturday. “But this is an overtly racist policy and it should be immediately discontinued.”
In a statement to British media, a spokesperson for MI5, MI6, and GCHQ said that the program is “a lawful measure used by the intelligence agencies to encourage people from under-represented groups to consider careers with our organizations.”
Interns are not guaranteed jobs after the 11-week program, and will “compete against all other candidates in external recruitment processes” if they wish to apply for a full-time position afterwards, the spokesperson said.
Britain’s Royal Air Force pursued a similar policy several years ago, prioritizing female and minority recruits over “useless white male pilots,” as a leaked email described them. After a senior official resigned in protest, an inquiry found that the RAF illegally discriminated against white men and ordered the force to pay compensation to 31 men who missed out on jobs due to the policy.
