Tighter curbs on spies who help hostile states in security revamp
‘State actors are stealing not only national security secrets, but our cuttingedge science, research and technology’
‘The commission will produce a historical record of what is known in relation to every death that occurred during the Troubles’
A CRACKDOWN on espionage has been unveiled in the Queen’s Speech, with foreign agents suspected of helping hostile states such as Russia and China facing restrictions on their movements and contacts.
A new National Security Bill will give the Home Secretary powers to restrict spies’ movements by placing curbs on where they can live, work, study or visit if there is insufficient evidence to prosecute them.
Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, Priti Patel said maximum jail sentences for spies will be increased from 14 years to life alongside new offences to counter cyber attacks, interference in elections and the theft of trade secrets.
Ministers also rejected calls to give civil servants who leak secrets a public interest defence because of the damage it could cause to national security even if the leaker believed it was justified.
Citing the Salisbury poisoning by Russian agents and the Chinese targeting of MPS, Ms Patel pledged to modernise laws that were “primarily designed to counter the threat from German spies around the time of the First World War”.
Ken Mccallum, MI5’S director-general, said laws had not kept pace with the threats his agents now faced. He said: “State actors are stealing not only national security secrets, but our cutting-edge science, research and technology. They are attempting to interfere covertly with our democracy, economy and society. We see coercion and, at the extreme, direct threats to life.”
As well as increasing jail terms for espionage, the Bill will also, for the first time, make it an offence to be an undeclared foreign spy. It will carry a prison sentence of 14 years and is designed to make it easier to prosecute covert agents working for hostile states.
A new offence of sabotage, with a maximum life sentence, will target foreign agents responsible for cyber or drone attacks on infrastructure or data critical to the UK’S interests.
Foreign spies could also be jailed for life for preparing hostile acts, which would allow the authorities to disrupt them before they strike.
A new offence of foreign interference, targeted at elections, will be introduced with a maximum of 14 years in jail. Courts will also be required to hand out longer sentences for other offences such as burglary or assault deemed to be “aggravated” because they have been committed by foreign agents.
Under the Bill, the Home Secretary will get civil powers to restrict a suspected foreign agent from “access to certain places, or where they can work and study”.
The order would have to be sanctioned by a judge and would be a “last resort” because of the civil liberty implications of restricting the movements and contacts of an individual before there is evidence to prove their involvement in hostile activity.
People working for foreign governments will have to register with a Usstyle foreign influence registration scheme, primarily to prevent covert targeting of politicians. Failure to sign up would be a criminal offence.
Planning
Housing developers will be forced to pay a new levy to fund local roads, schools, hospitals and GPS in an attempt to convince communities to approve more building projects. Council development plans will also be made more available to those potentially affected, including improving access online, so people understand proposed changes.
Both moves are attempts to speed up house building being championed by Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary.
It is a marked departure from the biggest overhaul of English planning rules in generations, which was being pursued last year but has been scrapped after a backlash from rural Tory MPS.
The new drive focuses on providing incentives to communities and securing buy-in, as well as streamlining planning processes to ease delays slowing development.
The “levy”, as it has been called by ministers, already exists in some form, with developers currently having to pay an amount to councils when granted planning permission. But ministers
‘Gene editing can help increase farmers’ resilience in the event of extreme weather events such as flooding and drought’
‘Business rates were largely ignored despite the impact that ultra-high rates bills has had on businesses in recent years’
want the charge to be levied at the point of sale, when the true cost of the property is known.
Officials are yet to put a figure on how much the plans could raise, but believe the change will stop developers negotiating down the amount they pay.
By increasing the financial benefit to local areas in the form of investment in schools and roads, it is hoped more proposed projects will be approved.
Another change is the streamlining of the process by which developers prove they have met environmental standards. Officials insisted the standards themselves will not be watered down.
Neighbours will also be allowed to hold referendums over the style and size of extensions, new homes and conversions on their streets to allow for residential development without full planning permission. The “street votes” are designed to encourage homeowners to add value to their properties.
Mr Gove, who also has the housing brief as part of his portfolio, says this will allow for “gentle densification”, increasing the number of people living in urban areas, without permitting changes to listed buildings or intrusion on the green belt.
Troubles veterans
Every death during the Troubles will be investigated by a new truth and reconciliation-style commission, the Government has announced.
The Legacy Bill will give protection from prosecution to military veterans who co-operate with the body.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is expected to end to the prosecution of retired soldiers over deaths during the conflict.
The Bill will also give an effective immunity to terror suspects on both sides, provided they co-operate.
The new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery is being set up to “enable individuals and family members to seek and receive information about Troublesrelated deaths and serious injuries” and to “produce a historical record of what is known in relation to every death that occurred during the Troubles”.
It is estimated that 3,500 people were killed in the conflict and the commission is committed to documenting all of them. But killings will only be selected for a full investigation where families of victims demand it or if the deaths were deemed not to have been properly investigated at the time.
It is unclear who would head the commission that would satisfy parties across the political divide. The Bill is to apply across the UK. It means any terror suspects subsequently implicated in atrocities, such as the Birmingham pub bombings in which 21 people were killed in 1974, can avoid prosecution if they give evidence to the commission.
Gene-edited crops
Laws that allow the gene editing of animals and crops were welcomed by farmers as the UK seeks to break free from EU regulation.
The decision could lead to “huge benefits to farming” including making food more nutritious and less susceptible to disease, growers said.
The Precision Breeding Bill is designed to “remove unnecessary barriers inherited from the EU” and is aimed at boosting food production.
Precision breeding tools could also raise farmers’ resilience in extreme weather events such as flooding and drought, said David Exwood, vice-president at the National Farmers’ Union. Gene editing does not involve introducing DNA from other species, unlike genetic modification, and is considered to pose less of a risk by some scientists. It allows, for instance, for animals that are resistant to disease to be bred.
However, critics have raised concerns about the practice. Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said “hasty deregulation of gene editing” could put the UK’S high environment and animal welfare standards in food production at risk.
Breeders and researchers will need to notify the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of precision-bred organisms, and there will be a public register to log the information.
Protection for cash
The Government has promised to eradicate “cash deserts” and protect those who rely on notes and coins after hundreds of bank branches and free cash machines closed during the pandemic.
The Queen’s Speech promised to introduce legislation that would protect “withdrawal and deposit facilities”. Half of Britain’s bank branches and nearly a quarter of free-to-use cash machines closed in the past two years.
John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, said: “We know that access to cash is still vital for many people, especially vulnerable people. We promised we would protect it, and we are delivering on that promise.”
The Daily Telegraph has campaigned to stop the decline of physical currency through its Keep Cash campaign.
The legislation will be included in the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which will also bring in rules to protect people from scams. This will sit alongside the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which will clamp down on money laundering and create powers to quickly and easily seize and recover crypto assets.
The speech included plans to legislate for further consumer protections, including a Bill that would require companies to alert customers with subscriptions before they auto-renew. Commissioning fake online reviews will also become illegal.
Tenants will also be protected through the abolition of “no fault” evictions, and a new ombudsman for private landlords will be set up.
Self-sailing ships
The Government plans to introduce laws to help capitalise on the development of self-sailing ships.
A Transport Bill, aimed at tying Britain’s rail system together under one entity, will include the proposals to boost the development of autonomous vehicles and vessels.
“We estimate that the UK could take a share of 10 per cent from a global autonomous shipping market worth £110billion by 2030,” notes published to accompany the Queen’s Speech said.
Companies including Rolls-royce are investigating technology in autonomous shipping. The Bill will also include laws for self-driving cars.
Business rates
Businesses were “disappointed” after another opportunity to overhaul high street levies was ignored by ministers.
The Government did not announce any major changes to the business rates system, sparking outcry from campaigners who believe the tax is unfair.
John Webber, head of business rates at property firm Colliers, said: “It is disappointing that business rates were largely ignored despite the impact that ultra-high rates bills has had on businesses in recent years.”
Business rates are based on the value of a company’s premises, which has led to complaints from bricks-and-mortar firms as it favours online retailers.
Leveson law scrapped
A “ridiculous” law designed to strong arm newspapers into signing up to a state-approved regulator with the threat of crippling legal costs will be repealed.
The scrapping of the law, introduced nine years ago in the aftermath of the Leveson Inquiry, was hailed as a major victory for press freedom.
Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 was championed by the campaign group Hacked Off. Under it, publications that failed to join a Royal Charter-approved watchdog would have to pay both sides’ legal costs when taken to court, even if they won.
All mainstream media outlets refused to comply, arguing the new system would give the Government unprecedented oversight of the press.