Dozens of foiled conspiracies. “A threat on an unprecedented scale”

MI5 is the British Security Service responsible for protecting the country against penetration by foreign intelligence services, the fight against terrorism and the internal security of Great Britain.

In a lengthy speech, MI5 chief Ken McCallum revealed that since 2017, British counterintelligence has foiled 43 advanced-stage plots to commit mass murders using firearms and explosives. He explained that the security services' counter-terrorism activities continue to focus mainly on Islamic extremism, followed by far-right terrorism. But he added that MI5 “deals with a bewildering array of beliefs and ideologies.”

McCallum said the trend that most worries him is the growing threat from al-Qaeda and especially from the so-called Islamic State. “After several years of lagging behind, they have renewed their efforts to export terrorism,” he warned. He said that over the last month, more than a third of MI5's highest priority investigations involved organized foreign terrorist groups.

He revealed that since 2022, there have been 20 conspiracies supported by Iran and stressed that “this mix of terrorist threats and threats from hostile states means MI5 has a hell of a job.”

– The first 20 years of my career here were full of terrorist threats. Now we must face them in parallel with state-backed attacks and sabotages set against the background of the great land war in Europe, he said. He added that the number of MI5 investigations into threats from hostile states had increased by 48 per cent in the last year.

The director of MI5 explained that although the expulsion by European countries, after the Russian attack on Ukrainemore than 750 Russian diplomats, many of them spies, have weakened the Russian intelligence services, they remain on a “continuous mission to generate chaos on British and European streets through arson, sabotage and more.”

He said that “the threat from Iran has increased on an unprecedented scale” and warned that Iran – along with Russia – “use supporters such as organized crime groups to do their dirty work.”

McCallum also expressed concern about the number of young people drawn into online extremism. He noted that about 13 percent of those under investigation for involvement in terrorism were under 18, a threefold increase in the last three years. “Far-right terrorism in particular is mainly targeted at young people, fueled by propaganda that shows a shrewd understanding of internet culture,” he said.