The UK foreign secretary has defended the next head of MI6 after details of his private life were removed from social networking site Facebook.David Miliband denied security had been compromised after the wife of Sir John Sawers posted family photographs and details of their children and home. Mr Miliband told the BBC: "You know he wears a Speedo swimsuit. That's not a state secret." Some Tories said the disclosure was damaging and Lib Dems want an inquiry. However, other senior Conservatives have played down the risks. Sir John is the UK's ambassador to the United Nations and is due to take up his new post in November. The Mail on Sunday said information published on Facebook included the couple's friendships with senior diplomats and actors, including Moir Leslie from BBC Radio 4's The Archers.
The UK foreign secretary has defended the next head of MI6 after details of his private life were removed from social networking site Facebook.
David Miliband denied security had been compromised after the wife of Sir John Sawers posted family photographs and details of their children and home.
Mr Miliband told the BBC: "You know he wears a Speedo swimsuit. That's not a state secret."
Some Tories said the disclosure was damaging and Lib Dems want an inquiry.
However, other senior Conservatives have played down the risks.
Sir John is the UK's ambassador to the United Nations and is due to take up his new post in November.
The Mail on Sunday said information published on Facebook included the couple's friendships with senior diplomats and actors, including Moir Leslie from BBC Radio 4's The Archers.
The foreign secretary, David Miliband, today played down the significance of internet photographs showing Britain's new spy boss holidaying with his children, and other relatives and friends.The family photos were posted on Facebook by Sir John Sawers's wife, Shelley, and included an image of the next head of MI6 playing frisbee on a Cornish beach in his swimming trunks. Other snaps indicated the location of the London flat used by the couple and the whereabouts of their three children and of Sawers's parents, the Mail on Sunday reported.The paper, which published a series of the Facebook photos, suggested they could compromise his safety and that of his family. However, Miliband dismissed calls for the appointment of Sawers, currently British ambassador to the United Nations, to be reviewed.
The foreign secretary, David Miliband, today played down the significance of internet photographs showing Britain's new spy boss holidaying with his children, and other relatives and friends.
The family photos were posted on Facebook by Sir John Sawers's wife, Shelley, and included an image of the next head of MI6 playing frisbee on a Cornish beach in his swimming trunks. Other snaps indicated the location of the London flat used by the couple and the whereabouts of their three children and of Sawers's parents, the Mail on Sunday reported.
The paper, which published a series of the Facebook photos, suggested they could compromise his safety and that of his family. However, Miliband dismissed calls for the appointment of Sawers, currently British ambassador to the United Nations, to be reviewed.
The family photos were posted on Facebook by Sir John Sawers's wife, Shelley, and included an image of the next head of MI6 playing frisbee on a Cornish beach in his swimming trunks.
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