James Bond ‘is a woke Remainer, not Jacob Rees-Mogg with a gun’ says 007 author

Earlier this year Young Bond novel writer Charlier Higson published his first official adult 007 adventure. Set during King Charles III’s Coronation , On His Majesty’s Secret Service follows a James Bond who disapproves of anti-immigration talk and drinks kombucha. Recently the author has been engaging on social media with 007 fans who think modern Bond is ‘woke’ and a far cry from Ian Fleming’s original character. Responding to them, Higson wrote: ‘I believe a contemporary 35-year-old is likely to be more ‘woke’ than one from 1952. I didn’t want him to be Jacob Rees-Mogg with a gun.’ Amusingly Sir Jacob himself retweeted this quote and simply commented: ‘What a pity.’ Asked about how Bond voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum, Higson replied: ‘Well, he travels a lot. He’s also half Scottish and half Swiss. ‘And I think as a civil servant and someone who relies on the cooperation of international security services, he would have 100% voted to stay in the EU.’ Defending his ‘woke’ Bond, the author said: ‘I’ve just made him a contemporary young man. In the same way that Eon [the production company] completely updated Bond for each new decade in the films so that he wouldn’t feel dated.’ After one user said Higson’s Bond sounds like he lives in Stoke Newington and donates £15 a month to The Guardian, the author denied this. He replied: ‘Fleming said Bond was slightly to the left of centre. I’d say my version is straight down the middle. He’s woke in the same way that Jack Reacher is woke. ‘The Fleming books still exist. All the films still exist. If someone writes a new book, or makes a film, looking at Bond in a different light, it doesn’t alter the past or somehow cause the other stuff to disintegrate. If you don’t like it, ignore it and move on.’