NSA leaks: UK's enemies are 'rubbing their hands with glee', says MI6 chief

Britain's three senior spy chiefs came into the public glare for the first time to claim that leaks by the former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden were being "lapped up" by the country's adversaries, but also to concede that the disclosures had prompted discussion with the government over how to be more transparent about their methods.

Despite an often gentle first public cross-examination of the heads of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, some members of the intelligence and security committee, including the former head of the civil service Lord Butler, expressed their concern at the legal oversight of the intelligence agencies. Butler said it was hardly credible that the legislation governing the agencies was "still fit for purpose for the modern world". After the session Sir Menzies Campbell, a Liberal Democrat member of the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC), also called for a review of the law "not least to provide the public with a sense of reassurance and confidence that there is a substantial legal framework". A third ISC member, the Tory MP Mark Field, also revealed that members felt they had not been told about the intricacies of GCHQ's capabilities, demanding in private "at the earliest opportunity a comprehensive update on collaborations that are taking place with overseas intelligence agencies" – including, by implication, the US National Security Agency. Sir Iain Lobban, the head of GCHQ, agreed to do so.