Mi 6 Line spy

Royal tutor to MI6 spy to Prime Minister? Here's why the Tories are all talking about Rory Stewart

Menu Sections. B ut admits law would prevent him from saying if he had been a spy. Tory leadership hopeful Rory Stewart has denied he was a spy - but said he could not admit it if he had been.

T he UK's International Development Secretary said he had "served my country" but "if somebody asked me whether I was a spy I would say no". Mr Stewart's colourful CV - which include stints as a soldier, diplomat and an administrator in Iraq - have fuelled speculation that he worked for MI6.

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The Daily Telegraph reported that a Whitehall source claimed Mr Stewart spent seven years as a spy before entering Parliament. But Mr Stewart denied that at a election meeting on Monday and repeated his denial on BBC Radio 4's Today programme - but acknowledged it would be an offence to admit to being an agent if he had been. Asked if former spies could, under the law, answer honestly whether they worked for MI6, he told Today: "No, and in fact the law wouldn't allow newspapers to reveal the identity of intelligence officers.

Presenter Nick Robinson asked: "You can't really answer the question whether you were a spy or not, you can just simply say you served your country? Mr Stewart said: "I definitely would say I served my country and if somebody asked me whether I am a spy I would say no. Mr Stewart later retweeted a comment from Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat, who said in response to the Telegraph allegations: "If he did, he risked everything in the shadows defending our nation.

His wife, Shelley, included him in her chronicles on Facebook, posting photographs of him having fun in a park, wearing a red fleece and a Santa Claus hat and playing Frisbee on a beach.

The existence of the Facebook page was disclosed by the tabloid Mail on Sunday. The history of MI6 has not always been so public. The organization traces its roots to a decision by defense planners in to create a Secret Service Bureau. The body evolved through two world wars and the cold war, feeding the plot lines and character lists of spy thrillers from James Bond to George Smiley. In addressing the issue of torture, Sir John said Britain sought to avoid actions that could lead to torture, even though that might help terrorists maintain their ability to carry out attacks.

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The issue is hotly debated in Britain and has been the focus of much public questioning about whether the British secret services used information from spy agencies in other countries that was obtained under duress, or contributed indirectly to torture by supplying questions to be asked of captives in other countries. He spoke at some length on what he cast as a conflict between moral considerations and perceived operational need, depicting spy agencies as caught between the need for information and the manner of its acquisition.

The more finely balanced judgments have to be made by ministers themselves.