Seldom, if ever, has the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) given such a frank and wide ranging briefing to journalists on the threats facing Britain as he did on Friday at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Alex Younger, a career intelligence officer who served in the Middle East and Afghanistan before taking on the role of ‘C’ in 2014, strikes a calm and deceptively gentle demeanor for a man fighting a terrifying variety of threats - hot and cold - on multiple fronts.

Adversaries include but are not limited to Isil, a resurgent al-Qaeda, Russia and China. Threats range from homegrown jihadists returning from Syria to a new ‘arms race’ in the development of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other digital technologies.

The head of the Secret Intelligence Services does not come out of the shadows often, so here, for your eyes only, is his thinking on the security issues of the day.

Brexit

Brexit will not be allowed to cause a breakdown in MI6’s relations with its partners in Europe. That is the principle point Younger has come to Munich to push home.

“Britain’s commitment to the security of the European continent is unconditional,” he said.