How to 'Bond' with a post-Brexit Britain?

Now that a former James Bond has been reduced to hawking the superhero properties of pan masala, it comes as no surprise that bona fide top MI6 functionaries do not regard 007 as genuine secret agent material — precisely for the same reasons that he makes such a popular celluloid spy. Much water has flowed down the Thames since Ian Fleming conceptualised his suave master spy, and any agent with a posh accent and fine taste in formal clothes would stick out like a sore thumb in modern Britain, not to mention the rest of the world.

No wonder Bond’s current avatar often pointedly distances himself from some of the more anachronistic affectations of his predecessors such as vodka martinis and dinner jackets, while maintaining his interest in the ladies. Significantly, though, Bond’s accent has veered away from Received Pronunciation — avowedly the tone of the upper classes — to a more plain cadence, much like the Duke of Cambridge’s has.

A rougher, more edgy Bond would fit the bill for a more recent MI6 operative even if it means the reel version could leave diehard 007 aficionados both shaken and stirred. Indeed, a non-white Bond — even if he remains half-Scottish, as per Fleming’s original character — may be the most appropriate evolution of all, if the intention is for him to blend into the brave new post-Brexit world.