The Director-General of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, has vowed that Britain’s domestic intelligence agency will never back down from confronting the growing security threat posed by China, while also expressing frustration over the collapse of a high-profile Chinese espionage case.
Speaking during his annual threat assessment at Thames House, London, Sir Ken reaffirmed his commitment to defending the UK against state threats, naming China, Russia, and Iran as primary adversaries.
“I am MI5 born and bred. I will never back off from confronting threats to the UK, wherever they come from,” he declared.
His comments follow the controversy surrounding the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to drop charges against two men, Christopher Cash, director of the China Research Group think tank, and Christopher Berry, a parliamentary researcher, who had been accused of passing secrets to a Chinese agent known as “Alex.”
The CPS said it could not continue the prosecution because the government had not officially designated China as an enemy state, a requirement under the Official Secrets Act.
Sir Ken described the case as a “strong disruption in the interests of UK national security,” adding that he was “frustrated” when opportunities to prosecute hostile activities were not pursued. However, he noted that “it is not MI5’s job to bring prosecutions” and said it was not uncommon for successful disruptions not to result in court action.
Addressing broader concerns, Sir Ken revealed that MI5 had intervened operationally only last week in a suspected Chinese plot targeting UK interests, though he declined to provide details.
He said the UK-China relationship was “complex by nature,” but MI5’s role remained clear: “We detect and deal robustly with activity threatening national security.”
According to him, Chinese state actors are engaged in cyber espionage, academic infiltration, and efforts to undermine UK public life, while also harassing dissidents abroad — including Hong Kong activists targeted with bounties.
“When it comes to China, the UK needs to defend itself resolutely against threats and seize the opportunities that demonstrably serve our nation,” Sir Ken said.
He revealed that MI5 is now investigating a third more individuals suspected of working for hostile states than a year ago.
On Russia, Sir Ken said the Kremlin continues to use sabotage, intimidation, and propaganda to destabilise the West amid its faltering invasion of Ukraine. “Russia-based figures are trying, and mainly failing, to sow the seeds of violence, chaos, and division here in the UK,” he said.
He also warned about the persistent danger from Iran, noting that MI5 had investigated more than 20 potentially lethal Tehran-backed plots against dissidents and Jewish targets in Britain over the past year.
Sir Ken said escalating state threats and global instability have triggered the biggest shift in MI5’s mission since the 9/11 attacks, when counterterrorism became its central focus.
He revealed that MI5 has disrupted 19 late-stage terrorist plots since 2020 and thwarted hundreds more in earlier stages. He also cautioned that remnants of Al-Qaeda and Islamic State were “regrouping and becoming more ambitious,” using online platforms to recruit and radicalise individuals in the West.
“Terrorism breeds in squalid corners of the internet where poisonous ideologies, of whatever sort, meet volatile, often chaotic individual lives,” he said.
Sir Ken noted that one in five of the 232 terrorism-related arrests last year involved suspects under 17, prompting MI5 to set up a new Interventions Centre of Expertise to manage the risks posed by radicalised youth.
He concluded by stressing that MI5’s work remains as vital as ever in what he called “a more hostile world,” emphasising the agency’s determination to safeguard the UK from both foreign espionage and terrorism.
