The Security Service,also known as MI5,is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6),Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ),and Defence Intelligence (DI). MI5 is directed by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC),and the service is bound by the Security Service Act 1989. The service is directed to protect British parliamentary democracy and economic interests and to counter terrorism and espionage within the United Kingdom (UK).
Barry Strachan Gardiner is a British politician who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party,he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent North since 1997.
Elizabeth Lydia Manningham-Buller,Baroness Manningham-Buller,is a retired British intelligence officer. She worked as a teacher for three years before joining MI5,the British internal Security Service. She led the newly created Irish counter-terrorism section from 1992 and then became director in charge of surveillance and technical operations. She became Director General of MI5 in October 2002 and,in that capacity,led the Security Service's response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Following her retirement in April 2007,she became a crossbench life peer in 2008.
Sergei Viktorovich Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent for the United Kingdom's intelligence services during the 1990s and early 2000s. In December 2004,he was arrested by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and later tried,convicted of high treason,and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He settled in the United Kingdom in 2010 following the Illegals Programme spy swap. He holds both Russian and British citizenship.
Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) or SO15 is a Specialist Operations branch within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Counter Terrorism Command was established as a result of the merging of the Anti-Terrorist Branch (SO13) and Special Branch (SO12) in October 2006,bringing together intelligence,operations,and investigative functions to form a single command. CTC has over 1,500 police officers and staff,and a number of investigators based overseas and also hosts the Counter Terrorism Policing headquarters.
Jonathan Douglas Evans,Baron Evans of Weardale,is a British life peer who formerly served as the Director General of the British Security Service,the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence service. He took over the role on the retirement of his predecessor Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller on 21 April 2007. Evans was succeeded by Andrew Parker on 22 April 2013.
The United Kingdom Terror Threat Levels,often referred to as UK Threat Levels, are the alert states that have been in use since 1 August 2006 by the British government to warn of forms of terrorist activity. In September 2010 the threat levels for Northern Ireland-related terrorism were also made available. In July 2019 changes were made to the terrorism threat level system,to reflect the threat posed by all forms of terrorism,irrespective of ideology. There is now a single national threat level describing the threat to the UK,which includes Islamist,Northern Ireland,left-wing and right-wing terrorism. Before 2006,a colour-based alert scheme known as BIKINI state was used. The response indicates how government departments and agencies and their staffs should react to each threat level.
Terrorism in the United Kingdom,according to the Home Office,poses a significant threat to the state. There have been various causes of terrorism in the UK. Before the 2000s,most attacks were linked to the Northern Ireland conflict. In the late 20th century there were also attacks by Islamic terrorist groups. Since 1970,there have been at least 3,395 terrorist-related deaths in the UK,the highest in western Europe. The vast majority of the deaths were linked to the Northern Ireland conflict and happened in Northern Ireland. In mainland Great Britain,there were 430 terrorist-related deaths between 1971 and 2001. Of these,125 deaths were linked to the Northern Ireland conflict,and 305 deaths were linked to other causes,including 270 in the Lockerbie bombing. Since 2001,there have been almost 100 terrorist-related deaths in Great Britain.
CONTEST is the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism strategy,first developed by Sir David Omand and the Home Office in early 2003 as the immediate response to 9/11,and a revised version was made public in 2006. Further revisions were published on 24 March 2009,11 July 2011 and June 2018. An Annual Report on the implementation of CONTEST was released in March 2010 and in April 2014. The aim of the strategy is "to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence." The success of this strategy is not linked to total elimination of the terrorist threat,but to reducing the threat sufficiently to allow the citizens a normal life free from fear.
Mark Philip Sedwill,Baron Sedwill,is a British diplomat and senior civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service to Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the United Kingdom National Security Adviser from 2017 to 2020. He was previously the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010 and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan in 2010. He was the Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office from February 2013 to April 2017.
Andrew David Parker,Baron Parker of Minsmere,is a British peer and former intelligence officer who served as Director General of MI5 from 2013 to 2020. He has served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household since 1 April 2021,and is a crossbench member of the House of Lords.
Sir Alexander William Younger is a British former intelligence officer who served as the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6),from 2014 to 2020. In April 2019,the government extended Younger's contract to maintain stability through the Brexit negotiations,which made him the longest-serving MI6 chief in 50 years.
Saoradh is a far-left political party and pressure group formed by dissident Irish republicans in 2016. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland and independent commentators describe the party as being close with the New IRA,although Saoradh themselves deny this.
Sir Jeremy Ian Fleming was the Director of the Government Communications Headquarters,the UK's intelligence,cyber and security agency. He was appointed in 2017 and was the 16th person to hold the role. He left the post in May 2023.
David William Kinloch Anderson,Baron Anderson of Ipswich,is a British barrister and life peer,who was the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in the United Kingdom between 2011 and 2017. On 8 June 2018 it was announced that he would be introduced to the House of Lords as a cross-bench (non-party) working peer. On the same day he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE),for services to national security and civil liberties,in the Queen's 2018 Birthday Honours.
The Manchester Arena bombing,or Manchester Arena attack,was an Islamic terrorist suicide bombing of the Manchester Arena in Manchester,England,on 22 May 2017,following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Perpetrated by Islamic extremist Salman Abedi and aided by his brother,Hashem Abedi,the bombing occurred at 10:31 p.m. and killed 22 people,injured 1,017,and destroyed the arena's foyer. It was the deadliest act of terrorism and the first suicide bombing in the United Kingdom since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
On 3 June 2017,a terrorist vehicle-ramming and stabbing took place in London,England. A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge,and then crashed on Borough High Street,just south of the River Thames. The van's three occupants then ran to the nearby Borough Market area and began stabbing people in and around restaurants and pubs. They were shot dead by Metropolitan Police and City of London Police authorised firearms officers,and were found to be wearing fake explosive vests. Eight people were killed and 48 were injured,including members of the public and four unarmed police officers who attempted to stop the assailants. British authorities described the perpetrators as "radical Islamic terrorists".
The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal,also known as the Salisbury Poisonings,was a botched assassination attempt to poison Sergei Skripal,a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies in the city of Salisbury,England on 4 March 2018. Sergei and his daughter,Yulia Skripal,were poisoned by means of a Novichok nerve agent. Both spent several weeks in hospital in a critical condition,before being discharged. A police officer,Nick Bailey,was also taken into intensive care after attending the incident,and was later discharged.
Lindy Cameron is a British civil servant who is chief executive officer at the National Cyber Security Centre. She was previously Director-General responsible for the Department for International Development’s programmes in Africa,Asia and the Middle East. She was awarded an Order of the Bath in the 2020 Birthday Honours for her services to international development.
The home secretary is one of the most senior and influential ministers in the UK Government,and the holder of a Great Office of State. The home secretary's remit includes law enforcement in England and Wales,matters of national security,issues concerning immigration,and oversight of the Security Service (MI5).
United Kingdom