In his speech, King Charles announced that offenders who carry out attacks on synagogues and other Jewish buildings on behalf of proxy organisations acting for foreign states such as Iran will face up to 14 years in prison under new legislation.
The new Tackling State Threats Bill will also give the Home Secretary new powers to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — a move long requested by communal leaders and first promised by the current government when it was in opposition.
A separate National Security Bill included in the King’s Speech acknowledged that the UK “faces national security threats that are evolving and escalating” from “Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorism,” as well as “foreign powers deploying new hostile tactics in communities and on our streets, including using proxies to do their dirty work.”
The new legislation would allow Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to designate Islamist groups such as the Iranian-linked Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which has claimed responsibility for at least half a dozen antisemitic attacks against the Jewish community — including the Golders Green Hatzolah ambulance incident and recent arson attacks on synagogues.
The Bill aims to “close gaps within our state threats legislation, aligning it more closely with terrorism legislation.”
During the State Opening of Parliament, King Charles told members of both Houses of Parliament: “My government will take urgent action to tackle antisemitism and ensure all communities feel safe.”
He warned that conflict in the Middle East is the latest example of how an “increasingly dangerous and volatile world threatens the United Kingdom.”
The King added: “My government will introduce legislation to tackle the growing threat from state entities and their proxies.”
In his introduction to the King’s Speech, Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged that his government “will take on extremism wherever it appears, including where it is sponsored by foreign powers that are hostile to the UK, such as Iran.”
While questions remain over whether all the Bills in the King’s Speech will pass through Parliament, moves to proscribe the IRGC and crack down on proxy groups behind violence in the UK are expected to receive overwhelming cross-party support.
Acknowledging the growing scale and complexity of threats from proxies of foreign powers, the government said new powers were needed to strengthen the UK’s national security.
The new Bill aims to provide a “powerful tool to disrupt and deter” state-linked entities and their operatives.
Under the new laws, police and prosecutors will be able to investigate and prosecute individuals under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, which criminalises conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.
The rise of proxy groups acting for Iran and Russia has revealed a gap in Britain’s national security laws. Individuals or groups working for the benefit of proxies, such as those linked to the IRGC, would now be treated in the same way as terrorists under the existing Terrorism Act 2000.
The Bill will introduce new criminal offences, including membership of a designated organisation and support for such groups. Offences under the National Security Act 2023 would apply, making it easier to prosecute those “working for specified proxy organisations, such as front companies and organised groups.”
