Berlin spy claim raises security concerns at private-sector involvement in UK embassies

There are as many staff working for contractors as there are diplomats in the building under PFI deal

‘The case has shone an unwelcome light on the extent to which private contractors have access to sensitive information’

‘The Cold War is a tangible presence in Berlin ... an alleged Kremlin assassin is currently on trail for a hit in a park’

WHEN the British Embassy in Berlin was opened by the Queen in 2000, it was hailed as the future of Foreign Office missions around the world.

Not only was the design Modernist, a classical facade ripped away to show purple inner workings, it was the first British embassy to be built under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) partnership that left private companies owning and running the building.

However, yesterday’s arrest of a British contractor on suspicion of selling secrets to Russia raised questions about whether the presence of private companies within embassies has left a weak link in the nation’s security.

The 57-year-old, named as David Smith, is believed to have worked as a security guard at the embassy.

For months, his movements were said to have been closely followed by MI5 and their counterparts in German intelligence, who believed he was passing classified information to the Kremlin.

The case has echoes of the scandal involving Matt Hancock, in that his affair with Gina Coladangelo, an aide, was exposed after a private contractor leaked security footage from his office.

However, this time it is not a minister’s private life but British secrets that may have been exposed – according to unconfirmed German reports they may have included details of counter-terror operations.

The case has shone an unwelcome light on the extent to which private contractors now have access to sensitive information at global British facilities.

The Berlin Embassy was conceived as a flagship for the PFI “public-private partnerships” beloved of the Tony Blair government, under which private companies would bear much of the risk of major government projects.

Yet it has left the embassy owned by one private company and managed by a plethora of others.

Semperian, a £1.9 billion investment group, owns a lease on the embassy until 2030. The building is managed by Apleona, while facilities management is provided by CBRE and security by Securitas. That means there are as many staff working for private contractors as there are diplomats in the building. Although they do not have access to the most sensitive files, they would come into contact with information of interest to Britain’s enemies on a daily basis.

Details as seemingly mundane as the wi-fi network or the names of diplomats and their families could be useful to hostile powers.

Just six months ago, an electrical engineer was arrested in Berlin on suspicion of passing classified information about the German parliament to Russia.

It transpired he was carrying out routine building safety checks but the job had given him access to classified floor plans which he is alleged to have passed to the Russian embassy.

Initial reports suggest Mr Smith’s job would have given him access to information about the building’s security arrangements. It would also mean many other British missions around the world could be exposed to the same risk.

While the Berlin Embassy is almost unique in the extent to which private companies are involved, many British consulates and embassies employ private security firms.

Unlike the US, which posts marines to guard its embassies, Britain only uses the military in the riskiest locations.

In answer to a Freedom of Information request in 2016, the Foreign Office said it had contracts worth more than£90million with private security firms including G4S, Gardaworld, Pilgrims Group and Securitas to guard its missions around the world.

In a world in which international espionage is hitting the headlines the presence of private contractors in British embassies could be a weak link.

Tourists flock to Berlin to see remnants of its Cold War past, such as

Checkpoint Charlie and the Bridge of Spies, that links it to the neighbouring city of Potsdam – where Smith lived and was arrested.

But the new Cold War with Russia is a tangible presence in Berlin. An alleged Russian government assassin is currently on trial on charges of carrying out a Kremlin-ordered hit in a city park.

In recent years Germany has accused Russian intelligence of hacking the computer networks of parliament and government departments and buying the names of its spies around the world from a double agent.

The British Embassy has not been immune from accusations of espionage. In 2013, there were allegations a tentlike structure on its roof was a listening station used by British intelligence to monitor nearby German ministries.

Yesterday, Smith appeared at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe charged with “activity as an agent for a foreign secret service” and was remanded in custody. He will probably face trial in Germany and will not be extradited to the UK.

Nick Thomas-symonds, the shadow home secretary, said: “All measures must now be taken – urgently – to establish exactly what information has been passed to Russian intelligence and the impact this has on the UK, as well as that of our allies.”

The German foreign ministry said: “We will not accept an intelligence agency spying on a close ally on German soil. Therefore we will follow the prosecutor’s further investigation very closely.”