Royal Assent was granted on 8 July 2026, and the measure is now the UK National Security (State Threats) Act 2026. The Home Office says the Act gives the Home Secretary a new power to designate bodies involved in foreign power threat activity, bringing a proscription-style mechanism into the state-threats regime rather than the terrorism regime. (bills.parliament.uk) The change takes effect immediately. Parliamentary explanatory notes say the Act commenced on the day it was passed, meaning the designation regime and the linked criminal offences are available now to police, MI5 and Counter Terrorism Policing. (bills.parliament.uk)
This is an addition to, not a replacement for, the National Security Act 2023. The Home Office says the 2023 Act modernised state-threat offences, but did not give ministers a targeted way to designate and disrupt the most serious bodies and proxy organisations acting for foreign powers. (gov.uk) The policy case came from Jonathan Hall KC's 2025 review, which recommended a proscription-like power for state threats, and ministers have also linked the accelerated timetable to a recent wave of antisemitic attacks. The Home Office says the wider 2023 framework has already produced charges and convictions, including cases linked to an East London arson attack and the targeting of Hong Kongers in the UK. (gov.uk)
Under the new model, the Home Secretary may designate a body where there is a reasonable belief that it is, or has been, involved in foreign power threat activity and where designation is considered necessary to protect the safety or interests of the UK. The power is directed at bodies rather than individuals, and designated organisations are to be listed in a schedule to the National Security Act 2023. (gov.uk) That design is intended to reach proxy structures as well as formal state entities. The Act also allows aliases to be listed, reducing the scope for simple rebranding, and designations are made by regulations, with an urgent made-affirmative route where ministers consider speed necessary. (gov.uk)
The immediate legal effect is the creation of three offence areas: supporting a designated body, materially assisting it, and obtaining material benefits from it. According to the Home Office factsheet, the purpose is to let prosecutors deal with designated proxy groups in practice much more like foreign intelligence services. (gov.uk) For policy readers, the support offence is narrower than a general ban on speech. The Bill text says liability depends on a 'prohibited purpose', meaning conduct the person knew, or ought reasonably to have known, was prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK. The maximum penalty across the new offences is 14 years' imprisonment and/or a fine. (bills.parliament.uk)
Safeguards were one of the main issues raised during passage. Government factsheets state that diplomatic engagement, humanitarian activity and journalistic freedoms are protected through defences built into the offences, and ministers told the Commons that the law was not intended to criminalise genuine NGO or media work. (gov.uk) There is also a route to challenge designation. Parliamentary explanatory notes say a designated body, or another person affected by the designation, can apply to the Secretary of State for removal, with a right of appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission and a further appeal on a point of law. (bills.parliament.uk)
For enforcement bodies, the gain is not only symbolic. The Home Office says designation can strengthen disruption, support prosecutions and sit alongside other tools such as immigration powers, sanctions and existing criminal offences. (gov.uk) For businesses, the implications are more technical but still important. The impact assessment says banks and other counterparties may need to halt dealings, assess whether funds or services risk assisting a designated body, and in some cases file Suspicious Activity Reports or Defence Against Money Laundering reports with the National Crime Agency. The Home Office nonetheless expects the overall business impact to be minimal and says guidance will be issued. (gov.uk)
The government is presenting the Act as a response to a sharper threat picture. In its updated factsheet and impact assessment, the Home Office pointed to MI5 evidence of a 35 per cent rise in state-threat investigations and more than 20 Iran-backed plots tracked over the previous year, alongside cases involving espionage, sabotage, arson and transnational repression. (gov.uk) The next practical questions are likely to concern first use. Policy attention will now move to whether ministers make early designations, how tightly the new offences are applied, and whether the promised protections for journalists, charities and other legitimate actors hold once the first cases reach investigators, the appeal system and the courts. This is an inference from the Act's structure, the government safeguards and the planned appeal mechanism. (gov.uk)