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British spying chief Alex Allan, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, has regained consciousness having been in a coma for 10 days. Mr Allan's committee collates information from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and briefs the prime minister, ministers and officials on intelligence assessments on issues such as security, defence and foreign affairs.

The head of the Government's top spy committee is in a coma in hospital after falling mysteriously ill, it emerged today. Alex Allan, who chairs the Joint Intelligence Committee, was found collapsed at home on Monday and his condition is said to be critical. Scotland Yard denied speculation that he may have been the victim of an assassination attempt aimed at the heart of Britain's intelligence community. -snip- Mr Allan, who is responsible for assessing material produced by the UK's three main spy agencies, is one of Whitehall's most senior civil servants. As a close adviser of the Prime Minister...

SUPERSPOOK Alex Allan may have been an assassination target of the Russians or al-Qaeda, security experts said last night. The 56-year-old chairman of the Government's Joint Intelligence Committee is in a coma in hospital and has had toxicology tests to see if he has been poisoned. Another theory is that Britain's top spy - whose 58-year-old Australian wife Katie Clemson died from cancer in November - may have taken a drugs overdose. Mr Allan had direct access to the PM and regularly updated him about terrorist threats facing Britain. The members of the Joint Intelligence Committee Mr Allan chairs are...