I spy

For some time now, people have warned that the historic Palace of WestminsterWhere the UK's House of Commons and House of Lords meet. is infested with mice. Little did they know it had also been infiltrated by a rat.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Times named a parliamentary aideAssistants to officials and politicians in parliament. who was arrested on charges of being a Chinese spy in March. He had been working at the centre of British democracy for years.

Some think it is silly to be in such an uproar. They say everyone knows that countries spy on each other. The fact China was caught is probably a good sign: it means it is not very good at it.

Spying has always been a part of life, going back thousands of years. Military theorist Sun TzuA Chinese military general and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period. , writing in the 4th Century BC, wrote that a good commander needed spies in the enemy ranks.

But modern espionage goes back to Francis Walsingham, spymaster of Elizabeth I of England. He maintained a vast network of agents in England and abroad.

These days, espionage takes place on a vast scale. Spies recruit double agents abroad and keep tabs on terrorist groups at home. They fight a shadow cyberwar with enemy powers.

Some think we should treat spies in the same way as soldiers. They are allowed to break the normal moral rules because they do it for the greater good.

Moreover, they argue, spies often do what they do for lofty ideals. They are patriotic people who genuinely want to keep ordinary people safe from foreign and terror threats.

Kim PhilbyA member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which gave British secrets to the Soviets during World War Two and parts of the Cold War. , the MI6 double agent who defected to the USSRThe United Socialist Soviet Republic, the USA's main rival in the Cold War before it collapsed and broke up into a number of smaller states in 1991. in 1963, was a truly committed communistAn economic system entailing collective ownership of all means of production in contrast with capitalism, which holds that industry and businesses are controlled and run for profit by private owners rather than by the government. who thought he was helping the whole human race.

But others say spies often do not have such noble intentions. They argue the intelligence services mostly just want to maintain their own power.

Sometimes this has even meant spying on their own government. In the 1970s, a clique of right-wing MI5 agents even plotted to topple prime minister Harold WilsonThe UK's Labour party prime minister from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976. .¹

And far from protecting the public, they argue, they actually put them in harm's way. Agents often recruit ordinary people to spy for them. If these informantsA person who gives information. are discovered, they can end up being imprisoned, tortured or killed.

In 2021, it emerged that dozens of CIAThe Central Intelligence Agency is a US government organisation that collects secret information about other countries. informants had been exposed in China and Iran. Many of them were executed.²

Yes: Spying is a dirty business that causes the most harm to innocent people who just happen to get in the way. And spies have too much power over the governments they supposedly serve.

No: At the end of the day, espionage makes us all safer. It ensures enemy nations and organisations cannot shut down vital systems, steal our information, or even invade us.

Or... Spying is a fact of life. It has been going on for millennia and for as long as states exist it will carry on. So it is not really a question of whether or not it is moral, but of whether or not it can be done in a more moral way.