The Spy Who Raised Me Podcast Jane Craigie

In this episode, Jane Craigie and her Dad, Iain Craigie, look back into Iain's career in intelligence to hear his take on what is happening following the upheaval and displacement caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

This was recorded at the height of this summer's UK heatwave before Russia permitted the first shipment of grain from Ukraine. 

In this episode, Iain Craigie remembers his early life - in the 1940s and ‘50s in a little North Eastern Scottish village,  Kingston-on-Spey. The rich conversation with his daughter, Jane Craigie, covers a young boy’s relationships with nature, the long-lost shopkeepers and the ebb and flow, and immense freedom of living in a coastal village at the end, and immediately after World War II. If you love conversation, our natural environment and Scotland, we hope that you’ll enjoy this episode.

In this episode, Jane asks her Dad, Iain about his time in Ankara working for GCHQ. His post was senior, he was responsible for staff at the British Embassy in Ankara, and also 100 staff at the Black Sea site at Sinop.

The posting was at a pivotal time for the Middle East, just ahead of the first Gulf War. Arguably, the start of the current wave of unrest in the region. A key responsibility for Iain was regular liaison with the General of the Turkish Army.

There’s a lengthy delay between this and our last podcast... due to technology and the lack of support for Dad to fathom Zoom during the pandemic. But we’re back now...

A rich conversation between Jane Craigie and her father, Iain Craigie covering Iain’s two postings in Hong Kong in the late 1950s and late 1980s. 

Not only does the discussion delve into China’s might in our world, it also covers the power of politics, community and health.

The podcast is fascinating and also gives inspiration to anyone thinking that old age should diminish a person. Iain proves that it clearly doesn’t.

In this episode, Jane Craigie talks to Iain Craigie about the instability of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the coming together of the international intelligence community to create the facility at Pine Gap in Australia to understand and mitigate this threat. 
The discussion also covers Iain's views on how power might shift towards countries like China as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. "China is in a very strong position," he said. 
Iain talks about the value of diplomats and international intelligence community. terrorism, about truly feeling for a country, its land and its people. 
"Terrorists are looking to bring humanity to  a standstill."

This episode capture the conversation between Jane Craigie and her father, Iain Craigie, about three precious years based in Istanbul in the 1970s. Iain’s time was as a more senior intelligence manager with GCHQ, their ‘target’ was Russia. Iain explains the start of using satellites for intelligence gathering - courtesy of the Americans who owned them. Discussions include how the British diplomatic service viewed British intelligence in postings like Turkey where there was so much of interest and at stake.