MI5,officially the Security Service,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). Within the civil service community,the service is colloquially known as Box,or Box 500,after its official wartime address of PO Box 500;its current address is PO Box 3255,London SW1P 1AE.
Barry Strachan Gardiner is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent North from 1997 until the seat's abolition in 2024 and Brent West since 2024. He is a member of the Labour Party.
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.
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.
Andrew David Parker,Baron Parker of Minsmere,,is a British life peer and former intelligence officer who served as Director General of MI5 from 2013 to 2020. He served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household from 2021 to 2024,and is a crossbench member of the House of Lords.
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS),commonly known as MI6,is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom,tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary.
There is a long history of terrorism in Europe. This has often been linked to nationalist and separatist movements,while other acts have been related to politics,religious extremism,or organized crime. Terrorism in the European sections of the intercontinental countries of Turkey and Russia are not included in this list.
Sir Alexander William Younger is a British 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.
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 22:31 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.
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.
David Miller is a British sociologist whose research and publications focus on Islamophobia and propaganda. Miller was Professor of Sociology at the University of Strathclyde (2004–2011) and the University of Bath (2011–2018) and was Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bristol (2018–2021). He is the co-founder and co-director of the non-profit company Public Interest Investigations (PII).
On 30 June 2018,in Amesbury,two British nationals,Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess,were admitted to Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire,England. Police determined that they were poisoned by a Novichok nerve agent of the same kind used in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury,8 miles (13 km) away,almost four months prior. Sturgess died on 8 July,and Rowley regained consciousness two days later.
The Integrated Review of Security,Defence,Development and Foreign Policy,often known as the Integrated Review,and titled as Global Britain in a Competitive Age,was a review carried out by the British government led by Boris Johnson into the foreign,defence,security and international development policies of the United Kingdom. Described by Johnson as "the largest review of its kind since the Cold War",the review was published on 16 March 2021.
On 20 June 2020,shortly before 19:00 BST,a man with a knife attacked people who were socialising in Forbury Gardens,Reading,Berkshire,United Kingdom. Three men died from their wounds,and three other people were seriously injured. Khairi Saadallah,a 25-year-old Libyan male refugee,was arrested shortly afterwards. He was charged with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder;he pleaded guilty. In January 2021,Saadallah was sentenced to a whole-life term.
United Kingdom