--- title: James Bond Would Not Make A Good Spy, Says Head of MI6 description: “In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts," said the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service canonical: https://time.com/4548694/james-bond-too-unethical-for-mi6/ author: Dominique Rowe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-28T02:29:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:38:08.191Z og:title: James Bond Would Not Get a Job at MI6, Says Head of MI6 og:description: “In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts" og:url: https://time.com/4548694/james-bond-too-unethical-for-mi6/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte178a1828c70b4de/6988abf1196cf4643503dbbf/gettyimages-55920525.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: New "Casino Royale" James Bond Is Unveiled og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: James Bond Would Not Get a Job at MI6, Says Head of MI6 twitter:description: “In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte178a1828c70b4de/6988abf1196cf4643503dbbf/gettyimages-55920525.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # James Bond Would Never Get a Job at MI6 Says the Real 'M' by [Dominique Rowe](/author/dominique-rowe/) ## Dominique Rowe Oct 28, 2016 2:29 AM CUT  In this undated handout photo from Eon Productions, actor Daniel Craig poses as James Bond. In this undated handout photo from Eon Productions, actor Daniel Craig poses as James Bond.Greg Williams/Eon Productions—Getty Images by [Dominique Rowe](/author/dominique-rowe/) ## Dominique Rowe Oct 28, 2016 2:29 AM CUT James Bond would not be up to the job if he tried to get hired at the real MI6, according to the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (S.I.S.). The stereotype of life as a spy “couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Alex Younger in [a rare interview for the U.K.’s Black History Month website](http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/careers/mi6-speaks-bhm/ "undefined"). “In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts. In fact, a strong ethical core is one of the first qualities we look for in our staff, ” he said. “If a spy undermines British values even in the name of defending them, then we have failed.” Ultimately, he summed up the existence of a spy as more down-to-earth than the movies would have us believe. “They are ordinary men and women operating in the face of complex moral, ethical and physical challenges, often in the most forbidding environments on earth.” \[[_Black History Month_](http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/careers/mi6-speaks-bhm/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4548694/james-bond-too-unethical-for-mi6/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4548694/james-bond-too-unethical-for-mi6/"},"headline":"James Bond Would Never Get a Job at MI6 Says the Real 'M'","datePublished":"2016-10-28T02:29:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:08.191Z","description":"James Bond lacks the moral backbone to be a good spy, says the head of MI6","url":"https://time.com/4548694/james-bond-too-unethical-for-mi6/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","Surveillance","diplomacy","Spying","intelligence","James Bond","Defense","Ethics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte178a1828c70b4de/6988abf1196cf4643503dbbf/gettyimages-55920525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dominique Rowe","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dominique-rowe/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte178a1828c70b4de/6988abf1196cf4643503dbbf/gettyimages-55920525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New \"Casino Royale\" James Bond Is Unveiled","caption":"New \"Casino Royale\" James Bond Is Unveiled","creditText":"Greg Williams/Eon Productions—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4548694/james-bond-too-unethical-for-mi6/","name":"James Bond Would Never Get a Job at MI6 Says the Real 'M'"}}]}] ```