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Criminals working for hostile states like Russia face tougher sentences in new crackdown

Counter-terror style powers will be used to clamp down on criminals who do the bidding of hostile states like Russia, China and Iran following a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in the UK

[Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said foreign states are becoming more aggressive in the UK]

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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said foreign states are becoming more aggressive in the UK(Image: BBC/AFP via Getty Images)

Criminals who do the bidding of foreign states face 14 years behind bars under new fast-track laws.

Counter-terror style powers will be used to clamp down on proxy groups who support hostile nations including Russia, China and Iran. It follows a series of anti-Semitic attacks in the UK which an Iraninan-linked terror group has claimed responsibility for.

Officials believe the new measures will make it easier to target Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Russian mercenaries the Wagner group.

Keir Starmer said: The recent wave of antisemitic attacks has shocked the nation and left British Jews feeling unsafe in their own communities. That cannot stand.

Where foreign states are found to be engaging in activity that threatens lives or undermines our democratic institutions, we must ensure that such actions have consequences. We will not tolerate hostile actors paying petty criminals to do their dirty work.

[Keir Starmer said criminals who do the bidding of hostile states will not be tolerated]

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Keir Starmer said criminals who do the bidding of hostile states will not be tolerated

New laws making it an offence to assist or accept money from a designated organisation could be in place as soon as next month, the Home Office said. And designated groups can be treated in the same way as foreign intelligence services.

It comes amid a growing threat from foreign states, with 20 potentially-lethal Iran-backed plots detected last year alone. And earlier this year Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) claimed responsibility for anti-Semitic attacks in Golders Green.

And last year five British men carried out a Russian-ordered attack on a Ukrainian-owned warehouse in Waltham Forest, East London. A new criminal offence will also be applied to those who express support for a designated organisation under the The National Security (State Threats) Bill, put in front of Parliament on Tuesday.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: Foreign states are becoming ever more aggressive attacking our communities, our way of life, and our institutions and hiding their tracks behind proxies. We must adapt to keep pace.

Our world-leading police and intelligence agencies do remarkable work every day to keep this country safe, and they will always have the governments fullest support. That is why we are equipping them with stronger tools to take down these evolving threats wherever they occur.

These new powers should send a clear message to anyone doing the dirty work of a foreign state we will come after you and you will face the full force of the law.

And Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: In recent years we have seen an increase in state backed threats on UK streets. Eighteen months ago, I commissioned the Independent Reviewer of State Threats Legislation to examine the gaps in our national security legislation, and consider what changes we would need to allow counter terrorism-style powers to be used effectively to counter state threats.

As a result of that work, the new law we are introducing today will enable us to take the strong action required against those foreign adversaries seeking to undermine the UKs security, interests, and values through covert means.

Our duty is to defend ourselves from these threats, protect our national security, and keep the British people safe.

Last year the number of MI5 state threats investigations increased by 35%, with greater threats by proxy groups.

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