Join Visiting Parliamentary Fellows Lord Boateng and Baroness Fall as they host Sir Alex Younger KCMG, former Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, in a wide-ranging discussion about China, Russia, and the West: the consequences of divergence. 

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Sir Alex Younger was for 30 years a career intelligence officer in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. He served in Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan. He was appointed as Director of Counter Terrorism from 2009 to 2012, Head of Operations from 2012 to 2014 and then Chief of the Service from 2014 to 2020. Prior to SIS, Alex served in the British Army as an infantry officer. He attended St Andrews’ University, where he read computer science, among other things. Alex led MI6 during a period of unprecedented technological change, when both digital threats and opportunities intensified.  He now works as a founding partner at Vega Cyber Associates. 

Lord Boateng DL is a civil liberties lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was brought up and educated in Ghana and the U.K. He studied law at Bristol University and is qualified both as a Solicitor and as a Barrister of Greys Inn. He was the MP for Brent South 1987-2005 and served as a Minister in the Labour Government 1997-2005, in both the Department of Health and the Home Office before becoming a Cabinet Minister as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 2002. He stood down from Parliament in 2005 to serve as HM High Commissioner to South Africa and the PMs Special Representative for the Africa Commission and the Great Lakes Region. He was elevated to the House of Lords in 2010, has served on the Joint National Security Strategy Committee and is currently on the International Relations and Defence Committee of the House of Lords. He serves on the Boards and as Chair of a variety of Private Sector and Charitable Bodies in the Banking Development and Cultural sector in the U.K. and Africa. He is Chancellor of the University of Greenwich and is Chair of the Church of Englands Archbishops Commission on Racial Justice.

Baroness Fall is a Conservative Member of the House of Lords, Senior Advisor and executive director of Brunswick’s geopolitical offer, and an author. She was deputy chief of staff to David Cameron for 6 years while he was the British Prime Minister and for 5 years when he was Leader of the Opposition. Kate is currently a Trustee of Atlantic Partnership, on the Culture Recovery Board, a member of the International Relations and Defence Committee Lords Select Committee and on the advisory board of the thinktank, Onward. Earlier in her career Kate ran the business liaison unit and covered the foreign affairs brief for the then Leader of the Conservative party, Michael Howard. She worked for the CBI under Howard Davies, and then for the Conservative Research Department. Her first job was for a British MEP. Kate read Politics Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University. She has two children and is the author of The Gatekeeper: Life At The Heart of No. 10, published by Harper Collins.

Please note: 

If you are able to attend please:

• Wear a face covering where indicated.
• Be considerate of other people’s space.
• Wash your hands regularly with soap or sanitiser.

Most importantly, we ask everyone to please:

• Take a lateral flow test on the morning of the Dinner and, if positive, stay at home.
• Stay home if you feel unwell.