Britain | British intelligence

The boss of Britain’s spies speaks

Sir Simon Gass explains what his team got right—and wrong

Sir Simon Gass
Image: Karl Smith

AS VLADIMIR PUTIN massed his forces on the Russia-Ukraine border in the winter of 2021, one man had the task of telling the prime minister what to expect next. Sir Simon Gass was the chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee (jic), a role he held for over four years until retiring on June 28th. His team had hotly debated the question, he tells The Economist. “We produced, in one month, twice as much product as we’d produced in a previous year.”

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Fine judgments”

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