Who says that civil servants have to enjoy Mozart? I remember, in the mid-1990s, being told that a close advisor of John Major's was a great fan of the 1960s/70s San Francisco based rock band the Grateful Dead.
Fast forward a decade or so and meet Alex Allan, the new head of the Joint Intelligence Council, who is in charge of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. He's a career diplomat, Harrow-educated, and a safe pair of hands if ever there was one. He even used to work for the most boring of Prime Ministers, John Major.
Except - hold on to your bowler hats - the Daily Telegraph has uncovered evidence of a dark and dangerous past on Allan's personal website. It includes the following damning facts.
1. He once windsurfed to work in pinstripes when there was a train strike
2. His wife held a surprise 50th birthday party for him
3. He is a keen bicyclist
4. He often rides in tight Grateful Dead motif lycra
5. He is, indeed, a massive fan of the Dead.
Much as the band members (or those who have survived their none-too-healthy lifestyle) would probably be amused by the idea that our spy in chief runs an online lyric depository of their back catalogue, he's hardly alone in his generation as being a quasi-hippy with alarmingly sympathetic musical tastes who has reformed, conventionalised and actually done well. For my money, liking the Dead shows sound good sense. I'd rather have him in charge of intelligence gathering and judgement than a Pete Doherty fan.
