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UK seeks tougher spy laws after Russia meddling report

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says Britain is looking at additional powers to look at the activities of hostile states "and that may include introducing new laws."

AFP

A Russian flag flies by surveillance cameras at the entrance to the Russian consulate in London on July 21, 2020.

Britain is considering new legislation to crack down on the activity of hostile governments after a damning intelligence committee report on Russian meddling in the nation's politics.

The government is planning to introduce new legislation to give security services greater powers and is considering a new law requiring people working on behalf of foreign states to formally register their activities, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News on Wednesday.

"We are looking at additional powers to look at the activities of hostile states and that may include introducing new laws," Shapps said.

Shapps said the country was considering "something like the foreign agent registration laws that exist for example in the US and Australia."

Russian influence in UK 'new normal'

The report from Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee painted a damning portrait of Russian involvement in British society and suggested that legislation had not kept pace with the threat.

It concluded that Russia sees Britain as one of its top intelligence targets, adding that Moscow’s attempts to influence the UK are the “new normal” and successive governments have welcomed Russian oligarchs with open arms.

Russians with "very close links" to President Vladimir Putin are "well integrated into the UK business, political and social scene — in 'Londongrad' in particular," the report said.

No evidence of meddling

Shapps rejected one of the key findings of the report — that authorities failed to investigate whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

The report's authors said this was a mistake and it should be done now and made public.

But Shapps insisted that the government hadn't "avoided" an investigation.

"The report ... didn’t find any evidence of interference in, for example, the EU referendum," he told the BBC.

Johnson says cautious about Russia

Britain did not vote to leave the European Union in 2016 because of any pressure from Russia, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

"The people of this country didn't vote to leave the EU because of pressure from Russia or Russian interference – they voted because they wanted to take back control," Johnson told lawmakers.

"It is the UK that leads the world in caution about Russian interference," he added.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies