National Security Bill becomes law

After being passed by both Houses of Parliament and securing Royal Assent, the National Security Bill became law on 11 July.

The government claims: "This new act brings together vital new measures to protect the British public, modernise counter-espionage laws and address the evolving threat to our national security.

"With this new legislation, the UK is now a harder target for those states who seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK, which include espionage, foreign interference (including in our political system), sabotage, and acts that endanger life, such as assassination.

"The new powers will help ensure that the UK remains the hardest operating environment for malign activity undertaken by foreign actors."

For the first time, the National Security Act includes an offence of foreign interference.

The act also introduces a new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), which criminalises those acting covertly for states which pose the greatest threat to national security.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat said: "We are facing growing threats from foreign states. Over the past years we’ve seen attempts to harm our people, damage our economy and undermine our democracy.

"Iran’s recent attempts to kidnap or kill people living in the UK are beyond contempt, and a fundamental violation of our sovereignty.

"The National Security Act provides the tools to expose this type of activity and hold those responsible to account."

Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, said: "We face state adversaries who operate at scale and who are not squeamish about the tactics they deploy to target people and businesses in the UK.

"The National Security Act is a game changing update to our powers.  We now have a modern set of laws to tackle today’s threats."

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