Vote of confidence but Scarlett must still have doubts

A serious question mark hangs over the career of John Scarlett today. The man poised to become head of M16 played a key role in the blunders in the intelligence that triggered the war in Iraq.

And despite an extraordinary vote of confidence in his overall ability from Lord Butler himself today, the spy chief would not be human if he were not considering his future.

The 56-year-old is due to take up his post as "C", the head of M16, within weeks. Today Lord Butler made it clear he believes Mr Scarlett should still take the job. He said: "We realise that our conclusions may provoke calls for Mr Scarlett to withdraw from his appointment as the next chief of the Secret Intelligence Service. We greatly hope that he will not do so. We have a high regard for his abilities and his record." However, as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee behind the notorious dossier on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, Mr Scarlett is inextricably connected with the flaws in intelligence.

He must be painfully aware that this is not the best way in which to start his new job.

Among the most damaging suggestions in the Butler report is the claim that the spy chief was not " demonstrably beyond influence" of Downing Street. The criticism tallies with details about his close ties with No10 which emerged in the wake of the row over the dossier.

Until last year, the only available photograph of John McLeod Scarlett was a grainy image of a grim-faced man in a black fedora. The picture, snatched at Heathrow in 1994 after he was kicked out of Moscow in a tit-for-tat spy row, beautifully summed up the mystique of MI6 and its agents overseas.

But that air of mystery was shattered when Lord Hutton summoned him to explain his role as chairman of the JIC in drafting the dossier. Not only did Mr Scarlett appear in public to give evidence, he was televised leaving his home and we learned that he was a "mate" of Alastair Campbell with extraordinary influence across Government.

As JIC chairman, he built up a close relationship with Tony Blair and Downing Street aides such as Mr Campbell, impressing many with his grasp of the political as well as the intelligence nature of the secret services.

The Hutton Inquiry revealed how close he was to No 10 as Mr Campbell was allowed to recommend changes to the dossier on Iraq's WMD.

As he gave evidence, observers were impressed with his cogent answers and tough responses to any attempts to portray him as a political pawn.

Ever since he was growing up in Southwark, John Scarlett's sharp brain has marked him out from the crowd.

Married with three daughters and a son, he won a scholarship to read modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford. After gaining a first class degree, his career with MI6 or Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), as it is more formally known, started in 1971. He made his name in the early Eighties, at the height of the Cold war. In one of the most secret and dangerous missions of his career, he was the main case officer for Oleg Gordievsky, the senior KGB officer working as a double agent for Britain while serving at the Soviet Embassy in Kensington.

Amid scenes worthy of James Bond, Mr Scarlett set up a safe house in a Bayswater flat to which the Russian brought secret documents.

His critics were today waiting with bated breath for his response to Lord Butler's report. But with friends in both Downing Street and the White House, he is expected to weather the storm.

The first publicly photographed "C" will be fervently hoping that he can soon fade back into the shadows.