Skip to main content

Hazel Blears visits Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies

The Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP visited the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies in February to find out more about the courses on offer at Brunel and learn how this field of study has developed in recent years.

Blears, the MP for Salford and Eccles, is one of the Labour Party members of the Intelligence and Security Committee, a committee of Parliamentarians which oversees the UK’s intelligence and security agencies. She met with BCISS Director Dr Philip Davies, Dr Stephen Marrin, Dr Tom Owens, Grp Capt (ret) Geoffrey Oxlee and Professor Justin Fisher, as well as Dr Kristian Gustafson by speakerphone from Kabul. She also talked to students affiliated with MA and PhD programmes at BCISS, before attending an MA in Intelligence and Security Studies lecture and participating with students on a practical exercise in intelligence analysis.

Blears said: “It was clear to me that BCISS students really value the emphasis on practical work that will be invaluable in their future careers. The MA course stimulates critical thinking which is essential in the intelligence assessment field, and I was really impressed by the commitment and energy of Dr Davies, who is clearly an engaging and entertaining lecturer.”