Category Archives: UK security and counter-terrorism

Counter-terror police investigate claim UK university halted research after Chinese pressure

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Sheffield Hallam University ordered professor to cease human rights study into Uyghurs forced labour in China

An investigation into allegations that a British university was subjected to pressure from Beijing authorities to halt research about human rights abuses in China has been referred to counter-terrorism police.

The Guardian reported on Monday morning that Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC) research institution, had ordered professor Laura Murphy to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in the country in February.

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Legal experts question reasoning behind CPS dropping China ‘spies’ case

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Ex-DPP Ken Macdonald says prosecutors may have been ‘over-fussy’ in seeking further assurances from government

Legal experts have questioned the explanation given by the Crown Prosecution Service for its sudden decision to drop charges against two Britons accused of spying for China amid a political row over who was responsible.

The expert lawyers expressed surprise that the CPS thought it needed further assurance from the government that China was an enemy insofar as it posed “a current threat to national security” before the trial of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry could go ahead.

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China threatened to retaliate against UK over foreign influence rules

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Exclusive: Chinese officials warned that targeting its security apparatus would negatively affect relations

China threatened to retaliate against the UK government if ministers targeted parts of its security apparatus under foreign influence rules, the Guardian can disclose.

Chinese officials warned the Foreign Office that the move would have negative consequences for relations soon after the Guardian reported it was under consideration, according to two government sources with knowledge of the discussions.

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About 300 arrested as protesters defy ban on Palestine Action in London

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Police say offences include assault and support for a proscribed group as 1,500 defied ban in Parliament Square

About 300 people have been arrested at the largest demonstration yet opposing the proscription of Palestine Action.

Defend Our Juries, who organised the demonstrations, said there were 1,500 sign-holders in Parliament Square on Saturday at a fresh protest in London against the ban. At the previous major demonstration last month, 532 people were arrested for taking part. Participants gathered in Parliament Square by 1pm, many holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

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About 300 arrested as protesters defy ban on Palestine Action in London

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Police say offences include assault and support for a proscribed group as 1,500 defied ban in Parliament Square

About 300 people have been arrested at the largest demonstration yet opposing the proscription of Palestine Action.

Defend Our Juries, who organised the demonstrations, said there were 1,500 sign-holders in Parliament Square on Saturday at a fresh protest in London against the ban. At the previous major demonstration last month, 532 people were arrested for taking part. Participants gathered in Parliament Square by 1pm, many holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

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UK rights watchdog warns against ‘heavy-handed’ policing of Gaza protests

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EHRC calls for clearer guidance for officers to avoid a ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression

The UK’s official human rights watchdog has written to ministers and police expressing concern at a potentially “heavy-handed” approach to protests about Gaza and urging clearer guidance for officers in enforcing the law.

In the letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the perception that peaceful protest could attract disproportionate police attention “undermines confidence in our human rights protections”.

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Police plan to arrest anyone supporting Palestine Action at London protest

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Source says presence of large crowds would not prevent arrests under terrorism laws

Police are planning to arrest anyone demonstrating in support of Palestine Action this weekend.

The group has been banned under terrorism laws and this weekend a large event protesting against its proscription has been organised by the group Defend Our Juries.

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Palestine Action ban coupled with Online Safety Act ‘a threat to public debate’

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Rights bodies say new law and proscription of direct action group create risk of censorship of Gaza-related content

The Online Safety Act together with the proscription of Palestine Action could result in platforms censoring Palestinian-related content, human rights organisations have warned.

Open Rights Group, Index on Censorship and others have written to Ofcom calling on it to provide clear guidance to platforms on distinguishing lawful expression from content deemed to be in support of terrorism.

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UK ban on Palestine Action is an abuse of power, high court told

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Intelligence assessment before proscription found that vast majority of group’s activities were lawful, court hears

An intelligence assessment before Palestine Action was banned under anti-terrorism laws found that the vast majority of its activities were lawful, a court has heard.

Raza Husain KC, appearing for Huda Ammori, a co-founder of the group, said Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe the group on 5 July was “repugnant” and an “authoritarian and blatant abuse of power”.

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Children investigated over Russian and Iranian plots against UK, says police chief

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Teenagers suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts on behalf of states, it is understood

Schoolchildren have been arrested by detectives investigating Russian and Iranian plots against Britain, a police chief has said, as he warned hostile state aggression was rising and youngsters were at risk.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism unit, said children in their “mid teens” had been investigated. It is understood they were suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts for Russia and Iran.

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Legacy Act halted investigations into 202 Troubles-related killings of British soldiers

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Labour set to point to repercussions of Tory Northern Ireland legislation as justification for repealing it

Investigations into the deaths of more than 200 British soldiers were halted by the Conservatives’ Northern Ireland Legacy Act, Labour will announce, as a justification for its intention to repeal the legislation.

Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, is expected to tell MPs on Monday afternoon that 202 live inquiries into the Troubles-related killings of members of the armed forces were brought to a stop in May 2024 and a further 23 involving veterans.

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Iran’s threat to UK on a par with Russia’s, security report finds

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Parliamentary committee says UK is priority target for cyber and physical attacks as well as assassinations

Iran’s intimidation, including the fear of physical attack and assassination of Iranian dissidents living in the UK, is comparable in scale to the threat posed by Russia, parliament’s intelligence and security committee has found.

In a report published on Thursday, the committee (ISC) adds that the UK is a priority espionage target for Iranian cyber-attacks, ranking just below the US and Saudi Arabia.

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RAF base vandalism not enough to justify Palestine Action ban, says ex-minister

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Lord Falconer says protest group ‘may have done other things’ to warrant expected proscription by home secretary

The spray-painting of aircraft at an RAF base by a pro-Palestinian group would not provide the sole legal justification for banning it, according to a former justice secretary.

The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, is expected to move to proscribe Palestine Action in the coming days after an incident on Friday at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

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Palestine Action expected to be banned after vandalism of planes at RAF base

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Home secretary plans to proscribe group that broke into Brize Norton, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation

The pro-Palestine group that broke into RAF Brize Norton sparking a major security review is expected to be banned by the government next week in a move which will anger campaigners.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is planning to proscribe Palestine Action, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation.

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Bargain Hunt expert jailed for offences under Terrorism Act

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Oghenochuko Ojiri given two-and-a-half-year sentence over failure to report art sales to suspected Hezbollah funder

A BBC Bargain Hunt art expert who failed to report a series of high-value art sales to a man suspected of financing the militant group Hezbollah has been jailed for two and a half years.

Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, sold artworks worth a total of about £140,000 to Nazem Ahmad, a man designated by US authorities as a suspected financier for the Lebanese organisation, a court hearing was told last month.

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Iranians arrested in counter-terrorism raids allegedly targeted Israeli embassy

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Home secretary says raids across UK last weekend reflected some of biggest terrorism threats in recent years

Israel’s embassy in London was the target of an alleged terror plot involving a group of Iranian nationals who were detained by police after a series of dramatic raids across England on Saturday, sources have told the Guardian.

Four men remain in custody and are being questioned by police on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act targeting what police and politicians have so far only been willing to describe publicly as “specific premises”.

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UK could target parts of Chinese state under new foreign influence rules

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Exclusive: Government is weighing up security concerns against economic benefits of closer ties with Beijing

The government could target parts of China’s security apparatus under new foreign influence rules, the Guardian has learned.

Ministers are considering including parts of the Chinese state accused of interference activities on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs).

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Prince Andrew wrote birthday letters to Xi Jinping, ex-adviser told court

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Released court statement says alleged Chinese spy helped draft private letters to Chinese president

The Duke of York sent letters directly to China’s president, the prince’s former senior adviser told a special immigration tribunal, with an alleged Chinese spy advising him on how to write them.

Dominic Hampshire, who worked for Andrew from 2019-22, said Andrew had “always had a communication channel” with Xi Jinping that was “accepted” and may even have been encouraged by Buckingham Palace and the late queen.

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Stranger than fiction MI5 tales revealed in first National Archives collaboration

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From Guy Burgess’s briefcase to microdots secreted in talc, an exhibition reveals remarkable items from the agency’s archives – and the extraordinary stories behind them

The agency that would become MI5, originally known as the Secret Service Bureau, employed just 17 staff in 1914; by the end of the first world war, the number working for Britain’s domestic counter-intelligence agency had swelled to 850, including a number of female administrators.

While valuable for managing the card index records, noted Edith Lomax, the controller of women staff in 1918, only women under the age of 30 should be recruited “on account of the very considerable strain that was thrown on [their] brains”.

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‘A clever agent’: notes from ‘watchers’ of spy Kim Philby made public for first time

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A new exhibition at the National Archives in London will reveal the extent of MI5 operation to expose the British double agent who was also Observer reporter

Secret surveillance of Britain’s ­notorious double agent, Kim Philby, made public for the first time in archived documents, reveals how keenly the Security Service wanted to confirm or disprove early suspicions of his high-level treachery.

In daily bulletins submitted to MI5 in November 1951, undercover operatives describe how Philby, codenamed Peach, moved about London.

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