Government suspends registration of agents from hostile nations.

August 20, 2024 TruthUSA

The previous Conservative government had promised to include China, Russia, and Iran in its enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

The new Labour government has postponed the implementation of a program to register individuals working for foreign countries, with the Home Office stating that it will not be enforced this year.

The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) was added as an amendment to the National Security Act 2023, mandating foreign agents and entities under foreign control (excluding diplomats and their families) to disclose their political influence activities.

However, an update to the National Security Act’s policy page on Monday indicated that “the scheme’s requirements are no longer expected to take effect in 2024.”

An earlier iteration of the FIRS factsheet had mentioned that detailed guidance would be provided before the scheme’s requirements are enforced, “anticipated in 2024,” but the latest version removed any reference to that date.

Charles Parton, a former diplomat and senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, expressed disappointment, stating that Labour had pledged to prioritize national security as quoted by the current Home Secretary, David Lammy, in his 2023 paper on foreign policy for the Fabian Society.

Parton emphasized to The Epoch Times: “Labour is currently conducting an audit of the UK’s relations with China. The timeline for the completion of this audit has not been announced, but it would be extremely disappointing if a clear China strategy is not established by March at the latest.