UK targets Russian influence with new registration system, security minister says

The British government is placing Russia on the top tier of a security programme aimed at protecting the UK from malign foreign influence, the Minister of State Security has said.

Dan Jarvis told lawmakers that any person or company “carrying out activity as part of any arrangement” with Russian authorities, including government agencies, armed forces, intelligence services and the parliament, will need to register with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme from 1 July.

Anyone who doesn’t sign up faces five years in prison.

Russian political parties that are controlled by the Russian government will also need to register before they can carry out activity in the UK directly, Jarvis said.

The government said the programme will be a key tool for the “detection and disruption of harmful activity against our country.”

Iran was the first country to be listed under the program earlier this month.

Lawmakers have questioned why China has not been included.

Jarvis cited hostile Russian acts in recent years including the use of the nerve agent Novichok to poison a former Russian spy and his daughter in 2018, the targeting of British members of Parliament through cyber attacks and other espionage tactics.

“Clearly Russia’s yasa dışı invasion of Ukraine has highlighted its intent to undermine European and küresel security,” Jarvis added.