Government Delays Scheme to Register Agents of Hostile Nations

Chinese and British flags fly ahead of a three-day state visit by the then-Chinese President Hu Jintao on Nov. 7, 2005 in London, England. Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

The new Labour government has delayed a scheme to register people working for foreign nations, with the Home Office saying it will not come into effect this year.

The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) was introduced as an amendment of the National Security Act 2023 and requires foreign agents and foreign power-controlled entities—apart from diplomats and their families—to report political influence activities.

However, an update to the National Security Act’s policy page from Monday says “it is no longer expected that the scheme’s requirements will come into force in 2024.”

An earlier version of the FIRS factsheet had said detailed guidance will be provided ahead of the scheme’s requirements coming into force, “expected in 2024,” with the latest version removing reference to that date.

Charles Parton, former diplomat and senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, responded by saying that Labour had promised to prioritise the UK’s national security “above all else,” quoting the now-Home Secretary David Lammy from his 2023 paper on foreign policy for the Fabian Society.

Parton told The Epoch Times: “Labour is currently engaging in an audit of the UK’s relations with China. When that audit will be complete has not been announced. But it would be most disappointing if a China strategy is not clear by March at the latest.

“Postponing a decision to put China on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Interests Registration Scheme beyond that date would not be in line with Labour’s promise to prioritise national security.”

‘Profoundly Concerning’

FIRS is a two-tier scheme comprised of a political influence tier and an enhanced tier. Those under the political influence tier would need to register if they “carry out political influence activities in the UK at the direction of a foreign power.”

The enhanced tier is for where the secretary of state considers a higher level of monitoring to be required “to protect the safety or interests of the UK,” and agents of a foreign power falling into this group will be required to register almost all activities.

Failure to register when required to do so is a criminal offence and could result in up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.

The measures were introduced in October 2022 by the previous Conservative government, with then-Security Minister Tom Tugendhat saying the registration scheme would “deter foreign powers from pursuing their pernicious aims through the covert use of agents and proxies.”

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and trustee of human rights charity Hong Kong Watch, called the delay in implementation “profoundly concerning,” saying it was “potentially a sign of the new government’s softening of China policy.”

Rogers told The Epoch Times that if so, “it is also a significant U-turn by the Labour Party, which supported the creation of the FIRS by the previous government and which adopted a strong position regarding both the security threats and the human rights challenges the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime poses.”

“Any unnecessary delay in the introduction of the FIRS, and the inclusion of China as a priority within it, opens up our national security to further infiltration and attack from Beijing in an alarming way,” he added.

Hostile Actors

FIRS was introduced after Ken McCallum, the director-general of MI5, said the agency is effectively “operating with one hand behind our back on state threats” because the UK did not have sufficient legal powers to punish foreign agents working for hostile actors.

In 2021, then-Conservative MP Bob Seely had called on the government to revamp its foreign lobbying laws, writing in his report published with the Henry Jackson Society think tank that hostile states were using lobbying as part of their operations to undermine Western nations.

While no state was mentioned specifically in the FIRS documentation, the Conservatives had pledged in their 2024 manifesto that China, Iran, and Russia would be placed within the enhanced tier.

The Conservatives had said ahead of the July 4 election that Communist-ruled China was part of an “axis of authoritarian states and hostile actors who are working together to threaten international security.”

Audit of UK-China Relations

The Tories’ position towards the end of its 14 years in power came after the party had initially presided over the so-called golden era of British-Sino relations, notably under former Prime Minister David Cameron and his chancellor, George Osbourne.

By 2020 under Boris Johnson, China’s telecoms giant Huawei was banned from the UK’s telecoms infrastructure due to security concerns.

After a landslide victory in last month’s election, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer launched Labour’s promised audit of UK-China relations, saying the new government’s approach would be “cooperation where it is necessary,” but also “robust challenge” when required.

Regarding the FIRS timetable, a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement provided to media outlets: “It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect the UK against foreign interference.

“The foreign influence registration scheme will further strengthen our national security whilst maintaining the UK as an international hub for business.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Home Office for further comment, but the department did not respond by publication time.

Lily Zhou contributed to this report.