MI5 operating in new era of terror and state threats, says chief

MI5 is contending with near-record volumes of terror investigations and fast-rising state threats, the intelligence agency's boss has warned. The security service is operating in a "new era", Sir Ken McCallum said in an annual speech, forcing the "biggest shift in MI5's mission since 9/11". He said state threats from Russia, China and Iran are escalating, with MI5 seeing a 35% increase in the number of individuals it is investigating in the last year. Sir Ken added that Chinese state actors in particular present a daily national security threat to the UK, revealing that MI5 had intervened operationally to disrupt Chinese activity of national security concern in the past week. In the run-up to the annual address, it is understood that he made changes to his speech to reflect two key recent events - the attack on a Manchester synagogue in which two Jewish people were killed, and the collapse of the China spy case. Sir Ken opened the speech by expressing his "deepest sympathies to those bereaved, injured and affected" by the synagogue attack. On the China spy trial, he seemed uncomfortable about answering anything likely to drag him into the ongoing political row. Britain's intelligence agencies are avowedly non-party political. They have to be. They are there to serve the democratically elected government of the day. Even though the director-general answers directly to the home secretary, they are expected to work in the national interest - rather than, say, in the case of China's Ministry of State Security, which serves the Chinese Communist Party. Perhaps the closest Sir Ken got to revealing where he and the agency stood on the matter was his assertion that, in relation to China, he was "MI5 born and bred" and he would "never back off from confronting threats to the UK, wherever they may come from". He also said, while answering questions after his speech, that he was "frustrated when opportunities to prosecute national security-threatening activity are not followed through for whatever reason". In the wide-ranging speech, Sir Ken talked about MI5 operating in "a new era" with terror remaining an "ever-present threat". He revealed MI5 and police had disrupted 19 late-stage attack plots and intervened in "many hundreds of developing threats" since the start of 2020. The "aggregate scale of the terrorist threat remains huge", he said, explaining how his teams were mostly focused on individuals or small groups, rather than larger established networks. This is perhaps the biggest change since the 2005 London attacks - the nature of the threats have tended to move away from large-scale, complex plans involving many people and often organised from abroad, to much smaller groups and radicalised individuals. And while Sir Ken described near-record levels of terror investigations, there have certainly been times when MI5 and the police have been even more stretched, almost to breaking point - such as in the mid-2000s. This ability to respond may be more down to increased resources and better use of them, rather than any drop-off in plots. Sir Ken also said one in five of the 232 terrorism arrests last year were of children under 17. He added that al-Qaeda and Islamic State group were "once again becoming more ambitious" and "taking advantage of instability overseas to gain firmer footholds". Speaking about threats from state actors including China, Russian and Iran, the director-general said as well as methods of espionage, state actors are "descending into ugly methods MI5 is more used to seeing in our terrorism casework". State threats include espionage against the UK's Parliament, universities and critical infrastructure. He warned that would-be "proxy" actors are viewed by Russia as disposable, saying "when you're caught, you'll be abandoned". While on Iran, he also said MI5 had tracked more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, referring to a court battle with the BBC about false evidence given by the agency to three courts, Sir Ken said MI5 had been "justly criticised" by the courts. "I want to affirm, on record, the importance MI5 attaches to accountability and oversight," he said, adding: "Part of why MI5 exists is to defend our national way of life - a way of life which includes the checks and balances of rigorous independent oversight". The director-general also spoke about Artificial Intelligence (AI), saying while the technology brings immense benefits, it would be reckless to ignore the potential for it to cause harm. In the speech, he also announced an Intervention Centre of Expertise would be housed within London's Counter Terrorism Operations Centre - where threats involving "adolescents, mental ill-health and other complex risks" would be managed. This was an interesting and long overdue acknowledgement that many cases which may look like terror at first glance may involve other factors. Sir Ken chose to end his speech with a tribute to the "quiet service" of "talented, selfless, often courageous MI5 people" and the work they do behind the scenes. The University of Lincoln is leading a project on how AI can defend the country. The social media platform had faced a ban in the US over national security concerns. Adm Sir Tony Radakin says he is optimistic about the country's defence. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among the 20 world leaders attending a regional security summit in China. Notices warn taking photos could lead to arrest, but enthusiasts say they will not be put off.