Iran-backed criminals face 14 years in prison as Starmer cracks down after spate of antisemitic attacks
New laws will be included in the King's Speech to enable the Home Secretary to designate proxy groups as foreign intelligence services.
Criminals who perpetrate antisemitic attacks orchestrated by Iran will be jailed for up to 14 years, even if they do not realise they are acting on Iran's behalf, under new laws set to be introduced next week.
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New laws will be included in the King's Speech to enable the Home Secretary to designate proxy groups as foreign intelligence services.
The move comes after such groups were blamed for a spate of antisemitic attacks on British soil in recent weeks.
Anyone carrying out activities on behalf of a proxy group would face a maximum punishment of 14 years in prison under the law change, The Times reports.
Read More: Starmer to urge ‘whole of society’ to respond to antisemitism after Golders Green attacks
The measures are designed to tackle the emergence of Iranian proxies recruiting petty criminals in Britain on social media to commit acts of terrorism, sabotage and espionage.
Iranian and Russian groups have exploited the loophole in current statutes to commit attacks on the UK.
Possible targets for the new powers include Iranian-linked Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which has which claimed responsibility for at least six antisemitic attacks against Jewish communities last month, including last week’s terrorist attack in Golders Green.
State groups such as the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will also be able to be proscribed by the Home Secretary in the package of laws.
Police and British intelligence agencies will be able to target the groups with counter-terror style powers intended to disrupt their malign activities.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned after the Golders Green attack that the Iranian regime is attempting to “foment violence, hatred or division” in British society, and that their efforts “will not be tolerated”.
Sir Keir's forthright statement publicly blamed Tehran for the recent spate of attacks on the Jewish Community in Britain.
On Tuesday, prosecutors were told to fast-track charges against people who commit hate crimes in England and Wales, in response to a “significant crisis” for British Jews.
The head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Stephen Parkinson, told LBC that “swift, robust and effective action” is needed to prevent daily attacks on Jewish people being “normalised”.
He said: “I'm hearing from the Jewish community about parents walking their children to school and having abuse hurled at them, like genocide.
“Slogans of one kind or another are being directed at young children. And this, I'm afraid, is the daily experience.
“We mustn't get to the point where that sort of behaviour is tolerated.”
The guidance tells prosecutors to make quick decisions on referrals from police investigations, in some cases even where all the evidence needed for court hasn’t yet been gathered
The Home Office said: “Legislation is being fast-tracked to introduce new proscription-like powers to ban the activities of state-backed organisations who pose a threat to national security.
“We have introduced a comprehensive set of measures aimed at countering threats posed by the Iranian regime, including sanctioning the IRGC in its entirety and freezing UK property of more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities.”