Ian Proud

Ian Proud was a member of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service from 1999 to 2023. He served as economic counsellor at the British Embassy in Moscow from July 2014 to February 2019

Britain is losing the spy game to Russia

Russia’s decision to kick out six alleged British spies in August prompted a strange sense of deja vu. After the Salisbury nerve agent attack in March 2018, I sweated for a week in the British Embassy in Moscow, waiting to hear if I’d be kicked out in the diplomatic tit-for-tat. We need a better plan