Thread by @haynesdeborah

NOW: Richard Moore, @ChiefMI6, is live on @BBCr4today - first time "C" ("M" in the James Bond movies) has done a live interview

The MI6 chief admits he did do some secret "skulking" while a young spy - though doesn't say he did things like wear fake beards as a disguise

Richard Moore talks about the vital need in 21st century for the UK & allies to keep up with rivals (ie states like China, Russia, Iran) in the development of technologies

"In the contest for influence & power those who command key technologies will have an advantage... It is really important that we in the West keep up," Richard Moore says

Going into more detail about the challenge posed by a rival like China, the MI6 chief talks about "debt traps" & "data traps". We are in a "more assertive stage" with China. he says

BREAKING: Asked about the threat of an invasion by Russia of Ukraine, MI6 chief Richard Moore says: "We have a chronic problem around Ukraine... It bears v careful watching and v careful signalling to the Russians about the price they would have to pay if they invaded"

MI6 chief describes the threat posed by President Putin's Russia is "acute" - though he is careful to frame his answer by mentioning the government's Integrated Review, which also had the same assessment

He stresses that the position of the UK and its allies is not "adversarial". "We are not trying to encircle Russia"

On the collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban, Richard Moore says: " The assessment was clearly wrong. None of us predicted the speed of the fall of Kabul". But he says cries of "intelligence failure" are "overblown"

Defending intelligence assessment on Afghanistan, MI6 chief says if his agency had recruited every member of the Taliban inner circle then they still would not have predicted the fall of collapse because the Taliban hadn't predicted it themselves - which is a fair point

About the terrorist threat posed to the West from Afghanistan following Taliban takeover, MI6 chief Richard Moore says the situation is a "serious reverse for us. There is no soft soaping of that"

He says the immediate international terrorist threat from Afghanistan is limited but the concern is "al-Qaeda will rebuild the type of terrorist infrastructure" they had back in 2001. "We are absolutely determined that that does not happen" Richard Moore says

Ahhh - well done @bbcnickrobinson getting onto James Bond while quizzing @ChiefMI6. Asked about ending of latest movie and what the prospects might be for 007 going forwards, Richard Moore isn't drawn but says: "We embrace James Bond even though we know it's not real life"

He also confirms that he doesn't drive around in an Aston Martin and that "C" doesn't stand for Chief but for Cumming after first MI6 chief Sir Mansfield Cumming. He used to sign his correspondence with a C and wrote in green ink - both traditions carried on by his successors