Crackdown on foreign spies

SUSPECTED foreign spies will be banned from key sites and a register of those who pose a threat to the country will be introduced under new laws.

The security services will be given extra powers under a National Security Bill which will also create new offences to tackle hacking.

The legislation, described as the biggest overhaul of security laws for a generation, will bring the Official Secrets Act up to date, ministers say.

It will mean that ‘hostile actors’ could be prevented from visiting, working or studying in certain places where they cannot be prosecuted or disrupted.

A ‘Foreign Influence Registration Scheme’ would require people to register certain arrangements with foreign governments, in line with similar schemes in the US and Australia.

The measures could also block terrorists from receiving civil damages payouts which could be used to fund their crimes.