The Future Ai

The Guardian first reported that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will receive new powers under the National Security Act to formally designate certain groups as foreign intelligence services. Anyone then found to be acting on behalf of such a group, wittingly or not, faces criminal prosecution under existing national security law.50% Rise in national security cases involving hostile states in Britain over just six months, according to the head of counter-terrorism policing. The legislation is a direct response to a pattern that has alarmed British authorities. Foreign powers, most notably Iran, have been recruiting ordinary criminals through social media platforms and directing them to carry out acts of violence, espionage and sabotage. Because these recruits often have no formal connection to a government or terrorist organisation, they have been able to slip through gaps in Britain’s existing laws.One of the groups expected to be designated under the new rules is Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, an Iran-linked organization that has claimed responsibility for at least six antisemitic attacks against Jewish communities in London since late March. Those attacks include arson at Jewish sites, a double stabbing in Golders Green that is being treated as an act of terrorism and a suspected arson at a former synagogue in Whitechapel.Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the crisis directly on Tuesday, saying that Iran’s efforts to spread violence and hatred in British society would not be tolerated. He convened a cross-sector meeting bringing together police chiefs, prosecutors, NHS officials, trade union leaders and university heads to coordinate a national response. Shortly after, the Crown Prosecution Service issued new guidance asking prosecutors to fast-track hate crime cases in light of what it called a deeply troubling rise in antisemitic incidents.The Metropolitan Police has already deployed a specialist team of 100 extra officers to protect London’s Jewish communities. The force had previously said it needed 300 more officers to deal with the scale of the threat. A Met spokesperson said British Jews now appear on the hate lists of virtually every major extremist movement operating in the country, from the far right to Islamist groups to hostile foreign states.The new law will also deliver on a pledge Labor made three years ago: to introduce proscription-like powers that allow the home secretary to effectively ban state-backed groups such as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Home Office confirmed it has already sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety and frozen UK assets linked to more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities.