I'm God, says renegade spy David Shayler

But now he claims to have more powers than anyone on Earth could possibly imagine.

For, after a period of reflection following his jailing for breaching the Official Secrets Act, Mr Shayler has concluded that he is the Messiah.

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Last night, proclaiming himself 'God', he explained: "What I'd say to people is: Do I look mentally ill? Do I sound mentally ill?

"The reason I'm putting out this message is because I am absolutely convinced - as convinced as I can be of anything in this world - that the universe is changing shape and humanity has to prepare for that, and that I am here to help teach people."

Mr Shayler spent years on the run after exposing alleged wrongdoing at the heart of the Secret Service, including a claim that MI6 was involved in a failed assassination attempt on Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.

Eventually he returned to Britain voluntarily and was sentenced to six months in jail in 2002.

Since then, he has made ends meet giving speeches to conspiracy theorists.

Last night, in an interview with More4 News, Mr Shayler made the astonishing claim that he had seen a psychic who he believes channelled the spirit of Mary Magdalene and anointed him as the Messiah.

He told the programme: "Suddenly my whole life made sense.

"I felt a sense of peace, I suddenly realised why it had been how it had - why I seem to get such a strange deal from the universe, when I seem to be trying to tell the truth about everything."

The 41-year-old even claimed there is an anagram of "David Shayler, Righteous King" on the rod of Aaron, a staff carried by Moses' brother in the Old Testament.

He said: "I looked at that, except the word in Hebrew for King was "chav".

"So at the moment I suddenly realised it goes David S, H, A... I'm going through my name. "And I'm thinking someone's trying to tell me, because this is the ineffable name of God, someone's trying to tell you you're God. "And at the moment you suddenly realise that someone's trying to tell you you're God: David Shayler, righteous chav."

He also said his new-found divinity gave him the ability to change the weather, and that his meditation had stopped the summer's attempted bombings in London.

And he found time to channel the "light" into securing his beloved Middlesbrough football team a place in the 2006 UEFA cup final against Seville.

Sadly, his powers were not strong enough to ensure they won.

Not since former Coventry City goalkeeper David Icke proclaimed himself the prophet has anyone in the public eye made such a bold assertion.

In 1991, Icke announced on the Terry Wogan chat show that he was 'the son of God' and that Britain would be devastated by tidal waves and earthquakes. It led to claims he was mentally ill.

The one-time Grandstand host believes the world is ruled by a secret group of 12ft shapeshifting reptiles called the 'Global Elite' or 'Illuminati'.

He was even passed over for Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 for being 'too weird'.