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Gay spies work better when they can be open about their sexuality, MI6’s chief said today.

Alex Younger, head of the Secret Intelligence Service, said it was important his staff were able to be “authentic” at work despite having to hide their real job from the outside world.

He spoke out after MI6 was ranked 20th in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers for 2017, having risen from 36th a year ago.

Mr Younger, known as C, said: “Human intelligence is key to MI6’s success and we cannot be successful if we are unable to be authentic in our working lives. Here in MI6, we understand that people perform better when they can be themselves, within a working environment that accepts staff for who they are.”

A ban on gay men and women serving in Britain’s intelligence and security services was in place until 1991. The recruitment restriction was kept in force following a series of Cold War spy scandals involving gay men.

At least two of the Cambridge Five spy ring, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, were gay, while a third, Donald Maclean, is believed to have been bisexual. Being gay was seen in Whitehall at the time as leaving people vulnerable to blackmail.

Mr Younger said today that the recognition by Stonewall reflected MI6’s commitment to a fully inclusive workplace “not only for LGBT staff but for everyone”. He added: “Of course, we will continue to build on the WEI (Workplace Equality Index) achievement and seek to ensure that diversity is intrinsic in every part of MI6 business, welcoming applications from all areas of the community.”

While the image of a British spy remains James Bond, SIS has been seeking to recruit more women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Mr Younger emphasised that MI6 is “serious” about offering its staff “a real work/life balance”, including flexible and part-time working hours if possible, as well as “generous” shared parental leave and pay.

“Our people are our strength, our most precious asset,” he explained, adding: “We need to harness the talent and diversity that Britain has to offer.

“So, if you are tempted, interested, or teetering on the edge of pressing that button — maybe you think you aren’t ‘from the right mould’, don’t have the ‘correct’ experience or did not go to the ‘right’ university — I would urge you, strongly, to apply.”

The intelligence and security services are expanding in the face of the terror threat and to target growing dangers such as cyber attacks.

MI5, SIS’s domestic counterpart, came fifth in the Stonewall employer league table — having topped the ranking last year, a spot taken for 2017 by Lloyds Banking Group — and GCHQ was 75th.