Escalating foreign threats to UK from China, Russia, and Iran have soared 50%
Threats to UK 'way of life' from China, Russia and Iran soar 50% in past year
Counter terror chief issues chilling warning that our "way of life" is under constant attack.
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Add us as preferred source Comments By Paul Jeeves 14:47, Thu, Jun 18, 2026 Updated: 14:48, Thu, Jun 18, 2026 
Counter Terror chief Commander Helen Flanagan warned that foreign attempts at interference has soared by 50% in the past year with China, Russian and Iran all attempting to create chaos for the “British way of life”. Commander Flanagan branded the threat level “significant” as she admitted that despite “working around the clock to disrupt states conducting the most serious offences against people in the UK, and that threaten our institutions and our way of life” the threat level “is growing at a rate that has outpaced our initial projections.”
Rogue states are using vast funds in their attempts to infiltrate Britain’s security infrastructure – often using former high ranking police officials to gain jobs with the private sector firms who have government contracts.
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The warning came as Hong Kong spies Peter Wai and Bill Yuen were today jailed at the Old Bailey for 10 years and eight years respectively.
Dual Chinese-British national Peter Wai, 40, conducted “shadow policing” operations on Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and dissidents living in the UK on the orders of handler Bill Yuen, 65.
He abused his position to gather intelligence on targets and was asked to pay “special attention” to British politicians, including senior Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
At the time, ex-Metropolitan Police officer Wai was working at Heathrow Airport for the UK Border Force, as a special constable with City of London Police, and had set up a private security firm.
His taskmaster and handler, ex-Hong Kong superintendent Yuen, was a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in London, said to be an extension in the UK of the Hong Kong government.
Yuen was linked directly back to the Chinese Security Bureau through his contact with another ex-police chief, the Old Bailey has heard.
Wai and Yuen were arrested after a failed bid to snatch a former Hong Kong resident, Monica Kwong, from her flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, on May 1 2024.
Following a two-month trial, the pair were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act 2023.
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She said: “When the National Security Act was introduced in late 2023, we anticipated an increase in our caseload simply because we finally had the legislative tools to properly tackle this activity. But the reality is that the threat level has far exceeded what we had anticipated. Last year alone, Counter Terrorism Policing investigations into potential national security offences increased by over 50%.
“We are dealing with an ever-growing volume of work focused squarely on national security and state threats. The sharpest end of this uptick is driven by a few key states - primarily Russia, Iran, and China. We are seeing these hostile states actively attempting to conduct the most serious offenses against people living in the UK, threatening our democratic institutions, and attempting to undermine our way of life. The activity we saw in the Yuen and Wai case - what the prosecution rightly described as a "shadow policing operation" - is a prime example of foreign powers trying to enforce their will outside of any established international legal processes.
Security chiefs say one of the most alarming aspects of the Yuen and Wai case was how the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities were able to utilise individuals working within the UK's own systems, including a Border Force officer and individuals operating for private security firms.
Commander Flanagan said: “That is exactly where our concern lies right now. We are increasingly seeing individuals working as private investigators, or operating under the guise of private security, whose work is directly and illegally benefiting a foreign state.
“Sadly, we see people willing to work for a quick payday, often carrying out what is clearly criminal activity, without asking the right questions about where the money is coming from or where the intelligence is going. In this recent case, the defendants were using their private security firms, like D5 Security, to invoice the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office for surveillance on UK-based dissidents.
Commander Flanagan added that it was imperative that firms operating in the UK security industry must fully understand who they are working for and the reasoning behind requests being made.
She said: “You must know your client. It is absolutely incumbent upon anyone in these legitimate industries to fully consider the nature of the work they are being offered. If you do not exercise due diligence, you could find yourself working directly for dictators and regimes that are fundamentally opposed to the UK and our democratic way of life.
“Since the introduction of the National Security Act, ignorance is not a defence. You have to know, or you certainly ought to know, who you are working for. There are now very clear rules, particularly regarding the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).
“This recent conviction should act as a very clear warning. If you are thinking of carrying out surveillance or spying activity for a foreign country in the UK, you will be investigated, you will likely be arrested, and there are very serious consequences when you are found guilty.”
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
