Security news

• e-Signatures & eIDAS - what you need to know

  04-10-2016 07:00
  
  David Alexander discusses three ways in which the new EU e-Signature Regulation will affect wealth management companies.
  
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• UK approves Chinese ‘mega embassy’ in London after reassurances from spy chiefs

  20-01-2026 16:57
  Critics expected to mount legal challenge to plans for vast complex at Royal Mint Court amid security concernsThe communities secretary, Steve Reed, has given permission for China to build a vast new embassy near the Tower of London after spy chiefs told him that the risks to UK national security could be controlled and dealt with.The decision paves the way for Keir Starmer to visit Beijing in the coming weeks – though local residents plan to legally challenge the decision, potentially del
  
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• ‘There can be no exclusions’: how Hillsborough law hit a roadblock

  20-01-2026 07:00
  What was meant to be a triumph for Keir Starmer has become mired in disagreement with victims’ familiesIt was meant to be a triumphant moment. After almost 16 months of briefing from Whitehall sources that Keir Starmer would never be able to keep his promise to introduce the Hillsborough law, the prime minister was introduced at the Labour conference by Margaret Aspinall.Aspinall, whose son James, 18, was one of the 97 people killed in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, has with other bereave
  
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• Royal Mint Court residents plan legal challenge if Chinese ‘mega embassy’ in London approved

  20-01-2026 07:00
  Claims of ‘government interference’ in decision on plans for vast outpost near Tower of LondonResidents of Royal Mint Court plan to mount a legal challenge within weeks if Steve Reed, the local government secretary, approves China’s plans to build a vast new embassy at the site by the Tower of London on Tuesday.Mark Nygate, the treasurer of the local Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association, said people living near the proposed development had concerns about “governm
  
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• UK arresting Palestine Action supporters is censoring free speech, says US official

  19-01-2026 20:38
  Sarah Rogers says prosecuting people for ‘merely’ expressing support ‘does more harm than good’Arresting supporters of Palestine Action is “censoring” their free speech and “does more harm than good”, a Trump administration official has said.Sarah Rogers, the US undersecretary for public diplomacy, was asked in an interview with the news platform Semafor whether the British government should allow supporters of the proscribed terror group to protes
  
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• Withdraw Hillsborough law amendment, urge Liverpool and Manchester mayors

  17-01-2026 17:56
  Draft creates ‘too broad an opt-out’ for intelligence chiefs to decide what information is released after major incidentThe mayors of Liverpool and Manchester have said an amendment to the Hillsborough law should be withdrawn, saying it does not do enough to prevent future cover-ups.The Liverpool city region mayor, Steve Rotheram, and the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, said the amendment “creates too broad an opt-out” by allowing intelligence officials to decide
  
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• Hillsborough law to be delayed over security services concerns

  13-01-2026 18:04
  Ministers hope to reach compromise after MPs and families said bill went too far in shielding intelligence officersThe government is to delay the progress of the Hillsborough law while ministers thrash out a compromise, amid concerns from MPs and families over how it will apply to serving intelligence officers.The bill will enforce a duty of candour on public officials and contractors to tell the truth in the aftermath of disasters. But concerns were raised by campaigners that it went too far in
  
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• UK ministers should explain compensation payment to Guantánamo detainee, Dominic Grieve says

  12-01-2026 21:59
  Former attorney general urges more clarity on British spy agencies’ role in Abu Zubaydah’s torture by CIAMinisters should explain why the UK has paid compensation to a Palestinian man who was tortured by the CIA and is still being held in Guantánamo Bay, according to a former attorney general.Abu Zubaydah, the first man subjected to CIA waterboarding, was reported by the BBC to have been awarded a payment that may amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds because of the role o
  
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• Slowly but surely, a state can repress its people. Why is the UK channelling Viktor Orbán’s Hungary? | Lydia Gall

  08-01-2026 14:16
  I know enough about the erosion of civil rights to fear what I now see in the UKLydia Gall is a senior Europe researcher at Human Rights WatchRight to protest is under attack in England and Wales, reports warnI saw, at first hand, the slow erosion of the rule of law in Hungary. It began not with a single shocking act but with quiet legal changes that narrowed space for dissent; each step justified as reasonable or necessary, until suddenly, democracy itself felt like a performance rather than a
  
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• Families affected by Manchester Arena attack say MI5 must be more open to scrutiny

  06-01-2026 08:54
  In a letter to Keir Starmer, they say MI5 failed them and the Security Service must be included in a law to stop cover-upsFamilies affected by the Manchester Arena bombing have said MI5 failed them and must be more open to scrutiny.In a letter sent to the prime minister seen by the BBC, the families demanded the Security Service be fully included in a new law designed to stop cover-ups in public life. Continue reading...
  
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• Ministers cannot go on ignoring the Shamima Begum case, for two important reasons

  02-01-2026 18:10
  The fate of the woman who left the UK at 15 in search of Islamic State raises wider questions about citizenshipWhile many aspects of UK political polling have shifted drastically since 2019, the public’s view on Shamima Begum has remained largely fixed: a big majority do not want the now 26-year-old woman back in the UK.In 2019, Sajid Javid, then home secretary, stripped the Londoner of her UK citizenship on the grounds that she was a security threat, having travelled as a schoolgirl with
  
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• European human rights court questions UK decision to strip Shamima Begum of citizenship

  31-12-2025 18:01
  Begum’s lawyers argue she was child trafficking victim when she travelled to live under IS in Syria in 2015The European court of human rights has questioned the UK government over its 2019 decision to remove Shamima Begum’s British citizenship.Lawyers in Europe have asked how Begum’s treatment complies with the UK’s responsibilities to victims of trafficking. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘We refuse to be afraid’: solidarity and vigilance in British Jewish community targeted by IS plot

  24-12-2025 08:00
  Life goes on in a vibrant Greater Manchester neighbourhood after a plan for an attack was thwarted“They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat,” Andrew Walters said.It is an old Jewish joke that’s as relevant as ever in Greater Manchester in the face of today’s threats. Continue reading...
  
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• A heavy moral burden as Palestine Action hunger strikers risk death | Letters

  23-12-2025 18:49
  Dr David Nicholl and Dr John Kalk discuss medical ethics in relation to the care of prisoners on hunger strike, and Dr Jonathan Fluxman calls on Labour to act now before the worst happensWe are not involved in the medical management of the Palestine Action hunger strikers, though we have experience of previous such protests (Families of Palestine Action hunger strikers seek urgent meeting with Lammy, 22 December). The ethical issues are well established: respect for consent, confidentiality, ass
  
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• ‘My blood is boiling, brother’: the foiled plot to massacre Jews on streets of Greater Manchester

  23-12-2025 14:57
  Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein thought ‘zero hour’ had finally arrived until undercover operative thwarted themWhen Walid Saadaoui recruited Amar Hussein to join him in a pogrom on the streets of Greater Manchester, Hussein wept with joy.For years, the two men had been sleeper agents for the Islamic State terrorist group. Each had lived quietly in Britain for years, waiting for the right moment to stage an attack, and for the right person to give them the support to make it happen.
  
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• UK aid cuts take 40% from funds to counter Russian threat in western Balkans

  20-12-2025 09:00
  Funding to tackle misinformation and cyber-attacks, and boost democracy, cut from £40m to £24mKeir Starmer’s raid on overseas aid has led to a 40% cut in funds for countering Russian aggression and misinformation in a region of Europe described by the prime minister as vital to the UK’s national security.British funding committed to bolstering the western Balkans, where Russia has been accused of sowing division and creating destabilisation, has been cut from £40m l
  
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• How far must UK go to fend off threat of foreign interference in its elections?

  16-12-2025 17:54
  Closing funding loopholes and re-empowering the watchdog would go some way to tackling an urgent issueUK to hold inquiry into foreign financial interference in domestic politicsRussia has been attempting to meddle with western democracy for years, but successive governments led by Boris Johnson and others have insisted that the UK’s electoral system can withstand its influence.That argument was recently blown apart by the conviction of former Reform politician Nathan Gill, jailed for 10 ye
  
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• UK spying laws could result in overreach and real harm, says review

  16-12-2025 13:03
  Jonathan Hall KC warns of people being wrongly investigated and of impact on journalists and thinktanksEspionage offences in the UK’s new National Security Act are so broadly defined that they “will result in cases of real harm” with people wrongly investigated, according to the first review of state threats legislation.Jonathan Hall KC, an independent reviewer appointed by the home secretary, said the 2023 law had to be monitored against “misuse and overreach” beca
  
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• Europe ready to lead ‘multinational force’ in Ukraine as part of US peace plan

  15-12-2025 22:26
  Proposal is part of new package of security guarantees, backed by the White House, that could mark breakthrough in reaching agreementEurope is ready to lead a “multinational force” in Ukraine as part of a US proposal for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, European leaders have said.In a statement, the leaders of the UK, France, Germany and eight other European countries said troops from a “coalition of the willing” with US support could “assist in the reg
  
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• Britain caught in ‘space between peace and war’, says new head of MI6

  15-12-2025 18:08
  Blaise Metreweli says world ‘more dangerous and contested now than for decades’ as AI and new technologies emergeBritain is caught in “a space between peace and war” complicated by the rise of artificial intelligence and other technologies dominated by powerful individuals and corporations, according to the new head of MI6.Blaise Metreweli, giving her first speech in the job, accused Russia of being insincere about Ukraine peace negotiations but made minimal reference to
  
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• ‘The frontline is everywhere’: new MI6 head to warn of growing Russian threat

  15-12-2025 01:01
  Blaise Metreweli expected to say UK faces new ‘age of uncertainty’ in speech identifying Kremlin as key threatAssassination plots, sabotage, cyber-attacks and the manipulation of information by Russia and other hostile states mean that “the frontline is everywhere”, the new head of MI6 will warn on Monday.Blaise Metreweli, giving her first speech in the job, is expected to say the UK faces a new “age of uncertainty” where the rules of conflict are being rewrit
  
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• Security stepped up in UK’s Jewish communities after Bondi beach shooting

  14-12-2025 15:50
  Police increase patrols around synagogues and other venues as tens of thousands celebrate HanukahBondi beach shooting – live updatesBritish police forces are stepping up security in Jewish communities after the antisemitic terror attack that left 12 people dead on Bondi beach in Australia.The Metropolitan police said they were increasing their presence around synagogues and other venues in London, where tens of thousands of Jews are celebrating Hanukah. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘I’m not going to hide again’: Stakeknife report met with relief by victims’ families

  09-12-2025 18:41
  Killings of suspected IRA informers brought shame and fear but relatives have opportunity to step out of shadowsMI5 impeded inquiry into Stakeknife agent who murdered for IRA, says official reportBritain’s ‘golden egg’: how IRA agent Freddie Scappaticci was protected to the endWhen Freddie Scappaticci’s “nutting squad” murdered suspected IRA informers the dead men’s families entered a singular hell.To have a father, brother or son dumped by a roadside, b
  
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• MI5 impeded inquiry into Stakeknife agent who murdered for IRA, says official report

  09-12-2025 18:36
  Nine-year investigation paints highly critical picture of agency’s handling of double agentWho was Stakeknife? MI5 mole at the heart of IRABritain’s security services allowed a top agent inside the IRA to commit murders and then impeded a police investigation into the affair, according to a damning official report.MI5 helped the double agent known as Stakeknife to evade justice from a “perverse sense of loyalty” that outlasted Northern Ireland’s Troubles, the police
  
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• Britain’s ‘golden egg’: how IRA agent Freddie Scappaticci was protected to the end

  09-12-2025 18:25
  ‘Agent Stakeknife’, who carried out sadistic killings then was helped to relocate to England, only once saw the inside of a courtroomMI5 impeded inquiry into Stakeknife agent who murdered for IRA, says official report‘I’m not going to hide again’: Stakeknife report met with relief by victims’ familiesWhen Freddie Scappaticci, 77, suffered the stroke on the morning of 16 February 2023 that would kill him, he had not worked for two decades.It was nevertheless in
  
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• Who was Stakeknife? MI5 mole at heart of IRA – timeline

  09-12-2025 13:21
  Agent who ‘committed grotesque, serious crime’ is widely believed to have been Freddie Scappaticci, who died in 2023The UK government has been urged to name the army’s top spy in the Provisional IRA after an independent investigation into his activities.Operation Kenova found that more lives were probably lost than saved through the operation of Stakeknife, an agent who “committed grotesque, serious crime” including torture and murder. Continue reading...
  
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• Prince Harry’s UK security under review after he wrote to Mahmood, reports say

  08-12-2025 13:15
  Home Office has reportedly ordered threat assessment amid long-running dispute over Duke of Sussex’s safetyUK politics live – latest updatesThe Duke of Sussex’s security arrangements while visiting the UK are reportedly to be reviewed after a direct request from him to the home secretary.Prince Harry, who lost a high-profile legal claim against the government over the decision to remove his right to automatic taxpayer-funded police protection, wrote privately to the home secret
  
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• UK terror watchdog warns national security plan ignores escalating online threats

  02-12-2025 07:00
  
  Independent reviewer says need to protect against online threats is now as important as need for robust armed forcesThe UK’s independent reviewer of terrorism laws has criticised the government’s latest national security strategy for failing to take online threats more seriously, despite Keir Starmer claiming it would result in “a hardening and sharpening of our approach” in the face of Russian menace.Jonathan Hall KC said it was “a very surprising omission” t
  
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• Sally Rooney says she will be unable to publish books in UK while Palestine Action banned

  27-11-2025 17:26
  Author tells high court her public support for group means her books could disappear from UK stores altogetherThe Irish author Sally Rooney has told the high court she is highly unlikely to be able to publish new work in the UK while the ban on Palestine Action remains in effect because of her public support for the group.On the second day of the legal challenge to Palestine Action’s proscription, the effect on Rooney, who said her books could disappear from UK stores altogether, was held
  
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• Ban on Palestine Action is repugnant and should be lifted, high court told

  26-11-2025 19:16
  Co-founder’s lawyer says group is part of an ‘honourable tradition’ of direct action and civil disobedienceThe proscription of Palestine Action is a repugnant, unprecedented and disproportionate interference with the right to protest, the high court has heard.On the first day of a legal challenge to the ban brought by co-founder Huda Ammori, her lawyer said the group had been engaged in an “honourable tradition” of direct action and civil disobedience prior to prosc
  
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