Home Secretary issues timely update on national security issues

On 17 May at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, a trio of Iranian nationals were charged with alleged offences under the National Security Act 2023. All three have been charged with allegedly engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, an additional charge has been brought in relation to the alleged engagement of one of the Iranian nationals in conduct (surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research) intending to commit acts (namely serious violence against an individual in the UK) contrary to Section 18(1)(a) of the National Security Act 2023.

The foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran. In point of fact, these individuals are the first Iranian nationals to be charged under the National Security Act 2023.

The criminal and national security investigations in these cases are ongoing. The police and the Security Services have the Home Secretary’s full support in this vital work.

Cooper asserted that these cases must now, of course, also progress through the criminal justice system meaning that, until the trial, there are necessary limits in terms of what can be discussed so as not to prejudice the legal process.

Grave and wider issues

“There are a series of grave and wider issues where I want to update on the stronger action the Government is taking to strengthen our national security,” stated Cooper, “including new powers on state threats, further action on Iran and strengthening border security to keep the public safe.”

This is the first time there have been charges under the National Security Act linked to Iran, although this comes against a backdrop of rising numbers of Iran-linked operations on UK soil where there have been repeated warnings by ministers, the police and the security and intelligence agencies. The director general of MI5 said in October last year that the police and MI5 had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats.

“Let me be clear,” said Cooper. “We will not tolerate any state-backed threats on UK soil. The Iranian regime poses an unacceptable threat to our domestic security, which cannot continue.”

Following this charging decision, Cooper confirmed that the Iranian Ambassador had been summoned. Foreign Secretary David Lammy is raising with the Iranian Foreign Minister “in the strongest terms” that the UK will not accept any Iranian state threat activity in the UK.

Enhanced tier 

The whole of the Iranian state has been placed on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which is due to come into effect on 1 July. The Government has also introduced sanctions as part of efforts to systematically dismantle criminal networks and enablers that Iran uses to carry out its work (including the Foxtrot network).

“International co-operation is critical in challenging Iranian transnational threats,” continued the Home Secretary. “That’s why we will be convening ministerial counterparts from allied nations facing similar threats to discuss co-ordinated action. We need to go further in strengthening our powers to address national security threats. Threats from extremist and terrorist groups and individuals – including Islamist extremism and far right extremism – continue. Vigilance and action against them remain crucial.”

Malign activities against the UK by (or on behalf of) foreign states have grown and the threats confronted are now more complex and intertwined. State threat investigations conducted by MI5 have increased by nearly 50% in 12 months. Policing investigations into state threats – led by Counter Terrorism Policing – are up five-fold since 2018.

As well as growing, those threats are also evolving. They’re becoming more interconnected and more intertwined. “The old boundaries between state threats, terrorists and organised criminals are being eroded,” warned Cooper. “We have seen malign foreign state organisations seek to exploit any vulnerability from criminal networks to our cyber security and on to our borders to do us harm.”

In the Labour Party’s General Election Manifesto there was a commitment to stronger action on state-based security threats. Before entering Government, Cooper and the Foreign Secretary set out plans for the establishment of a joint unit to pursue and coordinate action. The new state threats joint unit is now in place, with staff from Whitehall driving a broader approach across Government, determining to build new partnerships with industry and academia.

Cooper affirmed: “Everyone in this country should be able to go about their daily lives freely and without fear. Threats will not be tolerated and we will support anyone at risk of such activity. We have, of course, supported the National Security Act 2023, rightly brought forward by the previous Government, but we need to go further.”

Gaps in legislation

That last point signposts precisely why the Home Secretary commissioned Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, to examine further gaps in the national security legislation where counter-terrorism powers could be emulated and particularly looking at proscribing powers where the Home Secretary has long raised concern that it was too difficult to apply existing powers for state and state-backed bodies.

Hall’s review has now been published and concludes there are gaps in a series of areas – including on proscribing legislation where he identifies a series of legal difficulties in using powers that were designed to deal with terrorist groups for state and state-backed organisations such as the IRGC.

The Government is committed to taking forward Hall’s recommendations and will draw up new powers modelled on counter-terrorism powers in a series of areas to tackle these state threats.

“The Government will create a new power of proscription to cover state threats,” urged Cooper. “A power that’s stronger than current National Security Act powers in allowing us to restrict the activity and operations of foreign state-backed organisations in the UK, including new criminal offences for individuals who invite support for or promote the group in question. 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.”

The three individuals who’ve been charged came to the UK between 2016 and 2022. The Government has made it clear that border security is national security. That’s why new counter-terrorism powers are being introduced at the border. Border security needs to be strengthened, according to the Home Secretary. Organised crime, malign state actors and extremists can all exploit any vulnerabilities.”

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is introducing a wide range of counter-terrorism-style powers to pursue organised immigration crime and strengthen border investigations. Border Security Command is drawing together security operations around the border, all  modelled on the approach successive Governments have taken to counter the terrorism threat.

Counter-terrorism powers 

As part of existing counter-terrorism capabilities, security identity and criminal record checks are carried out on everyone who applies for a visa through the immigration system, on identified clandestine entries and on those who arrive by small boat so that immigration and counter-terrorism powers can then be used to address threats – including refusals, restrictions, tagging, heightened monitoring and immigration bail.

The Home Secretary has instructed officials to review those capabilities against the state threats as well as terrorism-related risks the UK faces such that the nation can strengthen its security response alongside the new border powers being introduced.

In the face of this increasing range of hybrid threats posed to national security, the Prime Minister has committed to publish a new National Security Strategy. That strategy is in development and will set out how the whole of Government and society (including businesses and communities) needs to respond to these changing and complex threats.

“National security is the first duty of Government,” asserted Cooper. “It’s the foundation of our ‘Plan for Change’. The threats we face are more intertwined than ever and our response needs to adapt. Together with our international allies, we need to face down the security threats and strengthen the powers and capabilities of the police and the Security Services who work around the clock to investigate and disrupt those who mean to do us harm.”