UK Bill Would Let Officials Designate State-Linked Groups as National Security Threats

The government introduced the National Security (State Threats) Bill to Parliament on Tuesday. The legislation would let officials designate groups engaged in foreign power threat activity, such as assassination attempts, surveillance, or sabotage, as national security threats.

Three new criminal offenses would be created under the bill. One would cover supporting a designated state threat organization, while the other two would address assisting such a group and accepting material benefit from it.

Background to the Legislation The bill follows an assessment by the government's Independent Reviewer of State Threats Legislation that existing law made it difficult to address state-linked groups. Officials noted that recent convictions involved individuals acting for payment on behalf of foreign states rather than through intelligence agencies alone.

Cases cited include spying on Hong Kong dissidents for China, an arson attack on a Ukrainian warehouse linked to the Wagner group, and the stabbing of an opposition journalist in Wimbledon linked to Iran. These incidents prompted the measure as an update to the National Security Act 2023.

Starmer said foreign states engaging in activity that threatens lives or undermines democratic institutions must face consequences. He added that the government would not tolerate hostile actors paying petty criminals to carry out such work. The home secretary said foreign states are becoming more aggressive and hiding their actions behind proxies.

Officials described the bill as a necessary upgrade after MI5 tracked more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots in one year. The impact assessment projects that 10 or fewer organizations would be designated under the new law in its first year.