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The Report of the Iraq Inquiry
76.  Sir David also commented that:
“… after 9/11 you see a completely new emphasis in Whitehall from Ministers, and
indeed in terms of budgetary provision, for the Agencies. The fact that they had
become the natural interlocutors of key players in the Bush Administration, and …
given … much higher priority for resourcing … reflect[ed] a sort of shift in weight in
the system.”47
77.  Asked whether Sir Richard Dearlove spent more time with Mr Blair than his
predecessors, Sir David commented that he did not know; but:
“Richard was certainly part of the group the Prime Minister consulted regularly,
and … had access to the Prime Minister … pretty much when he wanted it.”
78.  Asked for his observations on how the relationships between the intelligence
services, in particular Sir Richard Dearlove, and Mr Blair, Mr Straw and himself had
changed, Sir David told the Inquiry:
“… because the whole terrorism issue moved so rapidly up the agenda, and
because there is a sense that we are vulnerable to asymmetric threats in a way
that we haven’t been in the past, there is a new recognition of the importance of the
Agencies, a new willingness among Ministers to fund and resource the Agencies,
and a much greater dependence on advice from the Agencies on threats that are not
the conventional threats that we have been used to.
“… in addition … you have two rather remarkable personalities as the Heads of
[their respective] Agencies, Richard [Dearlove] and Eliza [Manningham-Buller]
… and if you find that the American system is using the Agencies really rather
extensively, then it does change the pattern and the way we work, partly because
the Government puts much more emphasis on the Agencies and much less, in my
view – and I think it’s a mistake – on the traditional departments, but partly because
we don’t have a lot of choice because this is the sort of network that’s developing.
“… in a way I think you have to accept that the Heads of the Agencies are much
more like the traditional Permanent Under Secretaries, that their departments are
frequently better funded to deal with these issues than the traditional departments
are, have more resource, can act more quickly …
“So I think there has been a shift in the way that Whitehall operates, and I think it
is inevitable that, as a result of that shift, the Heads of the Agencies have greater
weight in the system …”48
47  Private hearing, 24 June 2010, page 10.
48  Private hearing, 24 June 2010, pages 43-45.
280
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