From the Guardian:
People in Britain working with Russian authorities in any way will have to go on the UK’s foreign influence register by 1 July or face five years in jail. The British Home Office minister, Dan Jarvis, told parliament it included “carrying out activity as part of any arrangement” with Russian authorities including government agencies, armed forces, intelligence services and the Moscow parliament. Russian political parties controlled by the Russian government, including the United Russia party, will also need to declare what they are doing before they can carry out activity in the UK. [1]
The irony of this is spectacular. For years the liberal political and media establishments have been denouncing Russia for their foreign agent laws, declaring them to be oppressive, designed to eliminate opposition, and so on. And now we have our very own.
It is also not a widely known fact but there is a law (or regulation, I am not sure which) by which UK registered charities which receive significant foreign funding must declare this to the Charities Commission. [2]
There is also a general requirement to register foreign political influence. [3] I think this is separate from [2] but I am not sure.
In short, despite all the hoo-la-la about the terrible and repressive foreign agents laws in Russia, we have a very similar framework in the UK! As they say, you couldn’t make it up. The reason for such laws is that in the modern world, with communications being what they, are soft-power and influence operations are widespread. States, naturally, want to protect themselves from such operations. All states.
Notes
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/02/ukraine-war-briefing-us-pressure-builds-on-russia-over-refusal-to-accept-ceasefire
- https://www.bond.org.uk/news/2018/01/charity-commission-introduces-overseas-funding-declaration-for-uk-charities/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-influence-registration-scheme-guidance-for-charities-and-civil-society/sector-specific-guidance-on-the-foreign-influence-registration-scheme-charities-and-civil-society-accessible-version