‘How an independent Scotland can run its own intelligence service’

WOULD an independent Scotland really need a full-blown external secret service? A recent House of Commons report casts serious doubt on Scotland’s ability to create a sound intelligence structure.

But that report is based on the assumption that post-independence Scotland would pursue an ambitious international policy which would require both open and secret information on threats to its interests from across the globe. This is by no means certain.

In order to judge whether Scotland will require a vast espionage network we must first have a clear idea as to the kind of foreign policy it would pursue. This is a discussion that has not taken place.

It is true that many smaller states without aspirations to exercise global influence get by without developing this kind of capability. Countries such as Norway and Denmark do not have equivalents to the UK Secret Intelligence Service (SIS but popularly known as MI6) or the American CIA. This means they are limited in their ability to collect intelligence from abroad and rely instead on sharing arrangements with similar-sized partners and less intimate understandings with larger intelligence powers.

If it chose to forego an external intelligence service, Scotland would rely principally on standard diplomatic reporting – which, in many cases, provides just as accurate a picture of the intentions and capabilities of other states as information gained via espionage. Such a solution would certainly be less risky to a new state seeking to establish its