“My Government will introduce
legislation to tackle the
growing threat from foreign state
entities and their proxies”
- Protecting national security is the first duty of
government. The threat to the UK from foreign powers and their
proxies has grown in scale and complexity, threatening lives
and undermining our democratic values. New powers are needed to
keep pace. The Bill will provide a powerful new tool to disrupt
and deter the activities of state-linked entities and those
acting in concert with them, equivalent to
proscription under the Terrorism
Act 2000.
- The Bill creates a new power for the Secretary of State to
designate organisations that are engaged in threatening
activity linked to a foreign power. New and existing criminal
sanctions will apply to specified organisations, including
proxies being used by states to carry out their hostile
activities in the UK. Individuals acting to benefit those
proxies will feel the full force of our National Security
legislation, and the accompanying possible 14-year sentences.
What does the Bill
do?
- The Bill allows the Secretary of State to specify
organisations, including state entities or their proxies, that
are engaged in activity to threaten our national security,
including espionage, sabotage and interference. This gives
effect to a recommendation by Jonathan Hall KC (the Independent
Reviewer of State Threats Legislation) to legislate for a power
equivalent to proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000.
- The Bill will create new criminal offences to disrupt
specified groups operating in the UK. These offences would
capture conduct such as belonging to an organisation or raising
support.
- Offences in the National Security Act 2023 will apply to
the organisations, making it easier to bring prosecutions
against individuals who are working for specified proxy
organisations, such as front companies and organised groups.
- Collectively, these measures will help keep the UK safe by
making a tougher operating environment for foreign intelligence
services and their proxies.
Territorial extent and
application
- The Bill will extend and apply to the whole of the UK.
Key facts
-
In the 2025 annual threat update, the Director
General of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, said ‘in the
last year, we've seen a 35 per cent increase in the
number of individuals we're
investigating for involvement
in state threat
activity'. Over the same period, MI5 had tracked
more than twenty potentially lethal Iran-backed plots. He
also described the threat from a range of state actors,
including espionage against our Parliament, universities and
critical infrastructure, as well as the commission of
surveillance, sabotage, arson or physical violence here in
the UK.
-
In Jonathan
Hall KC's
2025 report
‘Legislation to
address the
state-based security
threats to
the United
Kingdom', he articulated the legal challenge
of proscribing state entities under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The Bill delivers on his formal recommendation for the
Government to create a new proscription-type power
specifically designed to target state entities.
