LONDON,OCT 08/BBC/–Russia’s intelligence agency has been on a mission to generate “sustained mayhem on British and European streets”, the head of MI5 has said.
Giving his annual update on security threats faced by the UK, Ken McCallum said GRU agents had carried out “arson, sabotage and more dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness” in Britain after the UK backed Ukraine in its war with Russia.
MI5 had also responded to 20 plots backed by Iran since 2022, he said, although he added the majority of its work still mostly involved Islamist extremism followed by extreme right-wing terrorism.
The complex mix of terror-related threats and threats from nation states meant MI5 had “one hell of a job on its hands”, he warned.
In a wide-ranging speech, external, he said:
-
Young people were increasingly being drawn into online extremism, with 13% of those investigated for terrorism involvement aged under 18
-
A total of 43 late-stage plots involving firearms and explosives to commit “mass murder” in the UK had been foiled since 2017
-
The number of state-threat investigations by MI5 had increased by 48%
-
Counter-terrorism work remained split between “75% Islamist extremism, 25% extreme right-wing terrorism”
There was a “dizzying range of beliefs and ideologies” MI5 had to deal with, he told the briefing at MI5’s counter-terrorism operations centre in London.
“The first 20 years of my career here were crammed full of terrorist threats.
“We now face those alongside state-backed assassination and sabotage plots, against the backdrop of a major European land war,” he said.
The UK’s “leading role” in supporting Ukraine means “we loom large in the fevered imagination of Putin’s regime” and further acts of aggression on UK soil should be expected, he warned.
The UK’s current terror threat level is substantial , external– meaning an attack is likely.
