Ministers will extend police protection to former MPs, peers and party spokespeople, and an independent review will examine how the state protects those in public life, following the charging of a suspect over the murder of Ann Widdecombe.
The Home Secretary has told MPs that the Government is expanding police protection for political figures who are not sitting MPs and launching an independent review of protective security. The announcements follow the charging, on 2 October, of the suspect in the murder of Ann Widdecombe at her home in Devon three months ago. The suspect faces a terrorism offence, including preparing an act of terror against the leader of Reform UK. The Home Secretary also announced a public inquiry into the deaths of two men in the Heaton Park synagogue attack last October.
Protection for those in public life
The Home Secretary said the suspect was charged with a terrorism offence on 2 October, including preparing an act of terror against the Reform UK leader, the Member for Clacton. She offered him and his family her “profoundest sympathies”. She said other MPs and people outside Parliament had recently been contacted by police in connection with the case, and offered them the same solidarity. “An attack on any one of us is an attack on us all,” she said. She also paid tribute to Ms Widdecombe, Sir David Amess and Jo Cox.
The Independent Office of Police Conduct is investigating the police response to an attempted break-in at the Reform leader’s home last year. The Home Secretary said she had asked for a thorough and swift inquiry, which is expected to conclude early next year, and urged against pre-empting its findings. She said that whatever it concluded, protection for those who serve was “insufficient”.
With immediate effect, police support will be extended to political figures who are not currently MPs, including former MPs, peers and party spokespeople. They will have a named police officer and help with wider security measures.
She also announced an independent “root-and-branch” review of the protective security the state provides to people in public life. Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the former national security adviser, will lead it. It will examine physical threats, online risks and the dangers of a more polarised society, and hear from ministers, MPs and other high-profile figures. It will report within six months and will complement Sir Robert Buckland’s review into the killing of Sir David Amess. The Home Secretary said its findings “must and will lead to tangible change”.
Heaton Park and attacks on the Jewish community
The Home Secretary said that, as requested by the coroner, there would be a public inquiry into the deaths of Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby at Heaton Park synagogue on Yom Kippur last October. Three others were seriously injured. The inquiry will allow all evidence to be heard, including sensitive national security material that could not be fully heard in the coroner’s court.
She listed further attacks on the Jewish community over the past year:
- the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, north London, with a trial set for March 2027
- a failed attack on the Israeli Embassy, for which the attacker was jailed for 20 years last week
- a spate of arson attacks across north London
- a foiled but potentially lethal plot in Manchester, hours before Yom Kippur began last month, for which two Iranian nationals have been charged with terrorism offences
She said police funding had been increased by an extra £250m to boost police presence in key Jewish areas and tackle antisemitism, but that the Government could not “simply build higher walls” around the community.
State threats from Iran
The Home Secretary said lines were “increasingly blurring between extremism and state threats”. She said the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right (IMCR) claimed responsibility for the north London arson attacks earlier this year, and that members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were behind the group and almost certainly directed its attacks across Europe. Iran, she said, was using proxies, paying criminals or exploiting naive volunteers while keeping “plausible deniability”.
This summer the Government fast-tracked the National Security (State Threats) Act, and has used its powers to designate both the IMCR and the IRGC.
On RAF Fairford, she said the Government’s assessment was that the incident was highly likely to have been co-ordinated by a known individual based in Iran and almost certainly directed by the IRGC. The Foreign Secretary has summoned the Iranian ambassador. Two individuals involved in espionage and attacks on behalf of the Iranian government in Europe and the US are being sanctioned.
Russia and China
As the invasion of Ukraine enters a fifth winter, the Home Secretary said the Kremlin continued to lash out at European countries. Together with the EU, the UK attributed an attack on Poland’s energy grid last December to Russia. She said it could have left half a million citizens without electricity.
A British man was charged last month under the National Security Act over alleged contact with Russia’s military intelligence agency. A Royal Navy sailor accused of spying for Russia has been charged under the same Act in recent days.
On China, MI5 recently warned universities and academics to cut ties with the China General Technology Research Institute. She said it funded UK research with the “primary purpose” of improving China’s espionage. Those who continue working with it face criminal charges for aiding a foreign state, and lengthy prison sentences.
Wider measures
Since 2023, more than 23 people have been charged under the National Security Act, leading to five convictions and more than 48 years’ imprisonment so far. They include 18 years for two men convicted of spying for China. More than 4,000 sanctions linked to Russia and Iran have been imposed, and both countries are on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.
Other measures include:
- a specialist mission in Counter Terror Policing to disrupt state threats
- tighter security around military bases
- a National Centre for Information Defence to tackle state disinformation
- the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, and an upcoming National Security Bill giving agencies and police stronger powers against cyber-criminals
- a social cohesion plan, “Protecting What Matters”, including banning people who spread hatred from coming to the UK and an annual State of Extremism report
- stronger handling of repeat Prevent referrals after Southport, with referrals possible without a clear ideology
The Home Secretary urged the public to report suspicious activity to police and to tell a trusted person if they were worried about someone. She told critical infrastructure operators that the National Protective Security Authority and the National Cyber Security Centre stood ready to help.
