The Home Secretary has pledged to introduce new powers to ban foreign intelligence agencies seeking to recruit “criminals, proxy groups, misfits and private investigators” in the UK.
Yvette Cooper said the government would emulate counter-terrorism legislation to plug gaps in areas including proscription to ban organisations such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).
It comes after a government watchdog said new powers should create a “banned list” of foreign intelligence agencies seeking to recruit for their work in the UK and abroad.
Other recommendations include outlawing “inviting support” for banned foreign intelligence services, greater stop and search powers, and the removal of suspects’ passports, in an echo of the current terrorism legislation.
Foreign agents and their allies who use the UK to prepare activity on targets abroad would also be criminalised.
It comes after six Bulgarians were jailed for conducting surveillance operations on diplomats, dissidents, journalists and Ukrainian soldiers in the UK and Europe on behalf of Russian intelligence.
Three men have also recently been charged over the alleged targeting of journalists at the Iran International TV station in London, the third such criminal case involving the opposition broadcaster in two years.
Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of state threat legislation, said the government “needs to do even more to warn the public about the risk posed by the most dangerous foreign intelligence services”.
The foreign agencies would be “put on notice” that their “operations, and minions and influence networks, are at greater risk of executive action, by way of arrest and prosecution, or deportation, or other forms of disruption, from UK authorities,” Mr Hall said.
He said it was “striking” how Ken McCallum, the director general of MI5, had recently directly addressed members of the public “getting into cahoots with spies”.
“Since there is no way for the authorities to be everywhere – and nor would we want them to be – all those criminals, proxy groups, misfits and private investigators who might be tempted to assist should be alerted to the most dangerous organisations,” Mr Hall said.
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While few foreign intelligence services will ever act openly, the fact that such organisations actively aspire to damage national security should be “prominently exposed for public consumption,” he added.
Exposure would lead to a “harder operating environment” in which state entities would have less confidence in finding willing or unwitting assistance to carry out plans, securing finance or providing accommodation.
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“Naming and shaming” in a high-profile manner, accompanied by open reasons, would also help attempts at “plausible deniability” for serious harm caused to the UK or its allies.
The measure could be used against “state-aligned” groups such as the Wagner mercenary group used by the Russians, where it could not be said that the entity was “controlled by” a foreign power.
Mr Hall said there were “solid reasons” for creating a new power, equivalent to proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000.
He suggested a new order called a Statutory Alert and Liability Threat Notice (SALT Notice) that could be invoked by the home secretary against a foreign intelligence agency.
Mr Hall recommended a new offence of “inviting support” for a foreign intelligence service subject to a SALT notice because there might be “ideologically motivated” individuals tempted to carry out acts of espionage or sabotage.
Responding to the recommendations, Ms Cooper told the House of Commons: “We’re committed to taking forward Mr Hall’s recommendations, and we will draw up new powers, modelled on counter-terrorism powers in a series of areas, to tackle those state threats.
“We will not hesitate to use it against organisations that pose a threat to UK residents because we will not stand for foreign state organisations seeking to escalate threats on UK soil,” she said.
She told the House of Commons that “malign activities” by or on behalf of foreign states have grown, and the threats we face have become “more complex and intertwined.”
MI5 state threats investigations have increased by nearly 50 per cent in a year and police investigations have increased five-fold since 2018, she said.
“As well as growing, those threats are becoming more interconnected, and the old boundaries between state threats terrorists and organised criminals are being eroded,” Ms Cooper said.
