James Bond wouldn't get a job as James Bond, says the real M

'MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts'

Often, the young and impressionable youth will watch a film or TV show and be inspired. Perhaps, watching David Attenborough’s Planet Earth, someone will volunteer with a charity to preserve the world as we know it. After watching The Martian, they may want to become an astronaut.

No doubt, many teenagers have thought wanted to live the glamorous life of James Bond, traveling across the globe and saving the day.

However, no-one would say Bond is a good role model: throughout his long career, the spy has killed dozens upon dozens of people, showing little remorse.

According to the head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, Alex Younger, that stereotype “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

In a rare interview for Black History Month, the real life M said: “In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts. In fact, a strong ethical core is one of the first qualities we look for in our staff. If a spy undermines British values even in the name of defending them, then we have failed.”

Unlike in spy films, the everyday life of a spy is much more down-to-earth: “They are ordinary men and women operating in the face of complex moral, ethical and physical challenges, often in the most forbidding environments on earth.”

In other Bond-related news, the opening scene of Spectre has inspired Mexico City to host a Day of the Dead parade for the very first time.