What is MI6?
{{distinguish|MI5}} [[Image:Secret Intelligence Service building - Vauxhall Cross - Vauxhall - London - 24042004.jpg|thumbnail|right|350px|The SIS building at [[Vauxhall Cross]], [[London]], seen from [[Vauxhall Bridge]]]] The '''Secret Intelligence Service''' ('''SIS'''), commonly known as '''MI6''',<ref>[http://www.mi6.gov.uk/output/Page50.html SIS or MI6. What's in a name?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115195722/http://www.mi6.gov.uk/output/Page50.html |date=2006-11-15 }} on the MI6 web page</ref> is the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[intelligence agency]] which collects intelligence about foreign countries.<ref>Dorril, Stephen 2002. ''MI6: inside the covert world of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service''. Simon and Schuster.</ref> It is a branch of the [[Foreign Service]], and it reports to the [[Joint Intelligence Committee]]. The service was formed in 1909 as the Secret Service Bureau, but its existence was not officially acknowledged until 1994.<ref>{{cite web|last=Whitehead |first=Jennifer |url=http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/521906/mi6-boost-recruitment-prospects-launch-first-website/ |title=MI6 to boost recruitment prospects with launch of first website&nbsp;— Brand Republic News |publisher=Brandrepublic.com |date=2005-10-13 |accessdate=2010-07-10}}</ref> The service works with the [[MI5|Security Service]] (MI5), [[Government Communications Headquarters]] (GCHQ) and the [[Defence Intelligence]] (DIS). SIS deal with the United Kingdom's [[espionage]] (spying) activities outside the United Kingdom. The [[headquarters]] are at [[Vauxhall Cross]] in [[London]] in a purpose-built building. The building was approved in 1988 and completed in 1994. The cost of the project was £135 million for site purchase and the basic building or £152.6 million including the service's special requirements.<ref>Thames House and Vauxhall Cross Archived 7 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, 18 February 2000. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607011836/http://w