UK reveals new rules to monitor those who work for Russian government

The British government said on Tuesday that anyone working in the UK for the Russian state will have to register on a new list that will be launched in July or Face Prison.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis told Parliament that Russia would be subject to the most stringent restrictions in the foreign influence registration scheme (FIRs).

It will be the second country after Iran, which is added to the so -called improved level of the scheme aimed at increasing Britain’s national security against hidden foreign influences.

This means that anyone directed by the Russian government – or by a unit associated with it – to perform activities in the UK, must declare the work or be exposed to five years in prison.

“Russia presents an acute threat to British national security,” said Jarvis, a junior minister in the Ministry of the Interior, known as the Home Office.

He highlighted “hostile actions” such as the use of a deadly nervous agent in Salisbury, southern England in 2018, espionage, arson and cyber attacks, including targeting against British parliamentarians through spear -fishing campaigns.

Jarvis also cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its “intention to undermine European and global security.”

The Home Office said that everyone who works for Russian state agencies, armed forces, intelligence services and police force, parliaments and their courts would be subject to the measures.

Jarvis added that the government also intends to “specify several political parties controlled by Russia, including United Russia Party” under the scheme.

China rings

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the rules “will make it harder for Russia to perform hostile actions against us in [the] future.”

FIRS had been in force in Kraft by 2024, but the new Labor government of Prime Minister Keir Stormer announced shortly after election in July it was delayed.

Jarvis announced that it would now take effect from July 1st.

At the lower level of FIRS, anyone who seeks to influence political decisions on behalf of any foreign power must register their activities.

The improved level is a status reserved for nations that are considered to pose a risk to the security of British national interests.

It requires that all activities carried out in the instruction of any designated state must be registered.

Last month, the government announced that Iran would be at the higher level, which means anyone working for his regime, including intelligence services and the revolutionary guard, must declare their work.

The government has so far resisted calls to add China to the top level as it seeks to improve relations with Beijing in the hope that it will spur Chinese investments in the UK’s economy.

The Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, a well -known China Hawk, said the Asian giant should be included because it was “on the episent of everything to disturb democracy and freedom.”

Jarvis said he would not speculate on “which countries may or may not have been specified in the future.”