The head of MI5 has warned that Russia is on a ‘mission to cause chaos’ on British streets

The head of MI5 said the Russian intelligence agency was on a mission to create “sustained chaos on the streets of Britain and Europe”.

Giving his annual update on the security threats facing the UK, Ken McCallum said GRU agents had carried out “arson, sabotage and more dangerous acts carried out with “increasing recklessness” in Britain after Britain supported Ukraine in its war with Russia.

He said MI5 had also responded to 20 Iran-backed plots since 2022, although he added that the majority of their work still primarily involved Islamist extremism, followed by Islamism. far-right terrorism.

The complex mix of terrorism-related threats and nation-state threats means MI5 has “a heavy job on its hands”, he warned.

In a wide-ranging speechhe said:

• Young people are increasingly drawn to online extremism, with 13% of those investigated for terrorism links being under the age of 18.
• A total of 43 late-stage plots involving guns and explosives to commit “mass murder” in the UK have been exposed since 2017.
• The number of MI5 state threat investigations has increased by 48%
• Anti-terrorism work is still divided between “75% Islamic extremism and 25% far-right terrorism”

There was a “dizzying range of beliefs and ideologies” that MI5 had to contend with, he told a press conference at MI5’s counter-terrorism operations center in London.

“The first 20 years of my career here were filled with terrorist threats.

“We now face those, along with state-sponsored assassination and sabotage plots, in the context of a major land war in Europe,” he said.

He warned that the UK’s “leading role” in supporting Ukraine means “we loom large in the passionate imagination of Putin’s regime” and subsequent aggression on British soil would be possible.

of the United Kingdom The current level of terrorist threat is significant – means there is a possibility of an attack.

Mr. McCallum said more than 750 Russian diplomats have been expelled from Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine, “the vast majority of them” as spies.

This affects the capabilities of Russia’s intelligence services, he explained, adding that diplomatic visas have been denied to people whom Britain and its allies consider to be Russian spies.

Russian state agencies have turned to proxies, such as private intelligence and criminal agents, to carry out their “dirty work”, but this affects professionalism in their operations and makes them more vulnerable to disruption.

Although Mr. McCallum has previously spoken publicly about both the Russian and Iranian threats, he has never before accused Moscow in such harsh terms.

In a previous public speech, he mentioned 10 plots against Iranians in the UK. That number has now doubled, implying that Iranian state operations are undeterred by the threat of capture.

He said that since the 2022 murder of Mahsa Amini — a 22-year-old who died in Iranian police custody after being arrested for allegedly violating regulations requiring women to wear headscarves — “they I have seen plot after plot in Britain, with unprecedented speed and scale.”

He added that, as the war in the Middle East continues, MI5 will be “fullest concerned about the risk of increasing – or expanding – Iranian state aggression in the UK”.

In both cases, Russia and Iran, the head of MI5 emphasized that because it was difficult – to almost impossible – for their accredited diplomats to carry out such actions, they were increasingly turned to underworld criminal gangs.

Speaking about China, he said the economic relationship with Britain had helped strengthen security.

However, he later told reporters that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a program to steal data and information, and “we have witnessed 20,000 shady approaches by China for individuals”.

Mr McCallum warned that the number of young people drawn to online extremism is increasing.

Around 13% of those investigated in connection with terrorism are under 18 years old – a three-fold increase in the past three years.

The security agency found “too many cases of very young people being drawn into toxic online extremism”.

“Extremist terrorism is especially skewed towards young people, fueled by propaganda that demonstrates a deep understanding of online culture,” he said.

Responding to questions from reporters, he reiterated concerns about the role of the Internet as the “biggest factor” driving this trend and described the ease with which young people can access material from their bedrooms. how easy it is.

Much of the threat is created by “lonely individuals propagating online,” he said.

“In the dark corners of the Internet, talk is cheap. “Separating the real conspirators from the armchair extremists is a task that requires great precision,” he said.

“Anonymous online connections are often inconsequential, but a few lead to deadly actions in the real world.”

Home Office figures released last month showed that of the 242 people detained on suspicion of terrorism offenses in the year to June, 17% (40) were aged 17 or under.

Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged the “sobering findings” raised by Mr McCallum but said the public should “rest assured that our security services are world class and will do everything necessary to keep all for us.”