The police and intelligence agencies are now better equipped to
protect the public from individuals and groups carrying out
hostile activity for foreign states, including their proxies, as
new powers become law.
Receiving Royal Assent today (8 July), the landmark National Security (State
Threats) Bill delivers on the government's commitment to
bring in new proscription-like powers to protect against state
threats and its promise to fast track legislation after the
recent wave of abhorrent antisemitic attacks.
The Home Secretary has been given new counter-terrorism style
powers to target groups working at the behest of, or in the
interests of, foreign states to carry out acts which threaten the
UK's security and the safety of communities across the country.
This could include attacks against particular communities,
targeting of dissidents on UK soil, or cyber attacks on critical
national infrastructure.
Foreign state organisations and state linked groups involved in
this activity can now be designated by the Home Secretary. This
gives the police and intelligence agencies stronger tools and
powers to disrupt and deter those working on their behalf.
If the Home Secretary judges it necessary to designate a body,
she will do so without delay, as soon as is practicably possible.
Home Secretary said:
Keeping our country and communities safe is the first duty of any
government. That's why we've taken decisive action to deal with
the growing threat posed by aggressive foreign states.
Under these new powers, we're going further to dismantle and
deter hostile activity. This act gives the police and
intelligence agencies the tools they need to pursue foreign
powers and their proxies, and better protect our communities,
institutions, and democratic values.
Sir Ken McCallum, the Director General of MI5 said:
The UK is under threat from state actors intent on doing us harm,
including by using thuggish tactics like arson, sabotage and
physical violence to target people and businesses and disrupt our
way of life.
Building on the important powers in the National Security Act
2023, which are already being heavily used, this legislation
introduces new measures which will help us tackle the growing
threat from proxy organisations, which are being increasingly
used by states attempting to deniably target the UK.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, Head of Counter Terrorism
Policing, said:
This new legislation is vital for the safety and security of the
UK and above all, protecting the public.
We continue to see reckless and dangerous acts carried out on the
streets of the UK by hostile states and their network of proxies.
This legislation presents more options for Counter Terrorism
Policing and our partners to take action against those who want
to harm our communities, our society, and our way of life.
It is now a criminal offence to express support for a designated
organisation, meaning those who glorify and encourage their
malign activity will face prosecution.
It is also now an offence to assist or receive payment from a
designated organisation ensuring foreign states who seek to hide
their involvement in hostile activity behind proxy groups, such
as organised crime gangs and front companies, will find it far
more difficult to do so.
These offences build on the National Security Act 2023, enabling
proxy groups, when designated, to be treated in the same way as
foreign intelligence services, so their harmful acts can be
disrupted.
Where engagement with designated groups is required for
diplomatic or humanitarian purposes, or where charity workers or
journalists have a reasonable excuse for receiving information
from such groups, this will remain lawful.
The new measures bolster the UK's defences to keep pace with the
growing scale and complexity of threats from foreign states with
more threats to life and increased use of proxy groups to hide
their tracks. They will make it easier to bring prosecutions and
send a clear message that convicted perpetrators will be handed
punishments matching the gravity of their actions, with anyone
convicted under these new offences facing up to 14 years behind
bars.
The passing of the National Security Act 2023 comprehensively
strengthened the UK's national security,giving the police and
intelligence agencies extensive new tools to detect and disrupt
hostile activity and modern offences to bring perpetrators to
justice. This has already led to a number of charges and
subsequent convictions, including Russia's proxies Dylan Earl and
Jake Reeves for their role in an arson attack on a warehouse in
east London, and Peter Wai and Chung Biu Yuen for their targeting
of Hong Kongers in the UK.
