Russia’s espionage battle with Britain has a history of rivalry and suspicion that goes back more than a century. Now, it is increasing in intensity – and changing in nature.
When Russia’s intelligence services look at the UK, they see an enemy looking for weaknesses to exploit. “It’s probably one of the most emotional topics in the history of Russian intelligence,” says Andrei Soldatov, an expert on the Russian intelligence services, and co-author, with Irina Borogan, of Our Dear Friends in Moscow. “It’s something about the concept of the fragility of the Russian state, which is an important part of the ideology of Russian intelligence.”
Soldatov has personal experience. In March, he was jailed for four years in absentia (he now lives outside Russia) having been declared a “foreign agent” by the Russian state because of his work.
Could drinking in the stands be coming back?
Andy Burnham has described laws which prevent drinking alcohol in view of the pitch at football stadiums as “discrimination” and suggested a change could be trialled.
PM says football fans ‘singled out’
The Prime Minister told reporters: “I don’t think it’s fair for football fans to be singled out.”
The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) said the “outdated” legislation should be reviewed, while police chiefs have urged against relaxing the law and want to meet Burnham to “explain the challenges”.
Why the ban was brought in
The law was first brought in in 1985 for English and Welsh football grounds under Margaret Thatcher’s government.
- At the time, then-home secretary Leon Brittan said that alcohol was a “major contributory factor in violent and disorderly behaviour” at football matches.
Not an official policy
The BBC reported that Government sources said Burnham was giving an opinion he has long held, rather than making an official policy announcement.
The Government is not taking the PM’s comments as a sign that he is looking to change the law.
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Changes could make policing harder
A UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) spokesman said changes could pose “challenges” to policing.
“Other sports simply don’t see the violence and criminal behaviour from their supporters that football does, albeit a minority, with alcohol often playing a significant part in violent and disorderly behaviour,” he added.
AI hacks Australian government – what to know
The Australian government has revealed that an autonomous AI agent hacked a government website in what may be the first known incident of its kind.
A research task gone wrong
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in New York yesterday that the AI agent, which was developed by OpenAI, was carrying out a research task on health and medical statistics when it accessed both public and non-public health data.
- Australia’s deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said that as part of its research, it approached the Medicare portal for information, but when it was denied, it hacked the portal to get the information anyway.
OpenAI slow to inform Australian government
Albanese said the AI company had taken “way too long” to inform the Australian government about what had happened, with it only being made aware on 10 September. The incident occurred in June.
OpenAI says it is still investigating, but found no evidence that patient records had been accessed and remains “committed to transparency”.
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Albanese calls for ‘urgent global guard-rails’
The announcement came less than a day after the Australian PM co-signed a joint statement with 21 other countries, including Germany, Spain and Canada, pressing for “urgent global guard-rails” on frontier AI models, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Channel migrants set to be processed in ex-Navy sea fort near Portsmouth
A former military sea fort could be converted into a processing site for small boat arrivals in Hampshire as migrants make more dangerous journeys across the English Channel to reach the UK.
What to know
The i Paper understands the Government has prepared contingency proposals to deal with arrivals further down the South Coast from Kent.
No final decision has been made by the Government on converting Fort Blockhouse in Gosport, near Portsmouth. It is also understood it would be a temporary facility.
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Anti-asylum protests
An aborted attempt to use Fort Blockhouse to land 50 asylum seekers sparked protests in the town on Tuesday. Police were forced to protect coaches carrying asylum seekers after hundreds of anti-migrant protesters massed at the site.
- Six arrests were made. Police are also “conducting enquiries” after far-right activist Daniel Thomas filmed himself slashing the side of a dinghy with a rescue crew member still on board.
Criticism of the plans
- Zoe Huggins, Conservative leader of Gosport Borough Council, described the fort as unsafe and logistically not viable.
- She said that access on and off the peninsula by two narrow roads created an “easy target” for protesters to blockade coaches transporting migrants, as happened in the Portsmouth riots earlier this month.
- Huggins said that they had heard about the plans through “informal channels”, adding: “It is outrageous that Government can review arrangements like this without talking to the local council.”
The Government response
A public planning inquiry into the proposals is due to be held after Gosport Borough Council and Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport, called for greater transparency from ministers.
A Government spokesperson said: “The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.”
The nine doomsday essentials you will be officially told to stockpile at home
People will be advised to stockpile a number of items to prepare for war or other emergencies as part of the UK government’s biggest public awareness campaign for decades.
Why you should make an emergency stockpile
While there is no new or imminent threat to Britain from war, the ongoing “grey-zone” activity by Russia, the biggest El Niño weather event for centuries and the risk of an AI-linked accidental power cut, have all raised concerns the British public should be better prepared.
Here are the nine items in the Government’s suggested emergency stockpile list.
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Torches, power banks and radios
Battery or wind-up torch
It is recommended to get a torch as they are safer than candles.
Portable power bank
For charging your mobile phone in a power cut.
Battery or wind-up radio
To get updates during a power breakdown – a car radio can be used, but in severe weather it might be safer to stay inside.
Batteries, first aid kits and hand sanitiser
Spare batteries
For torches and radio and a backup battery for any medical equipment you rely on.
A first aid kit
This should contain items like waterproof plasters, bandages, a thermometer and antiseptic.
For hygiene purposes when the water is off.
Bottled water, non-perishable food and baby supplies
Bottled water
A minimum of 2.5-3 litres of drinking water per person per day is recommended by the World Health Organisation for survival.
Non-perishable food
This shouldn’t need to be cooked. Remember food for your pets and a tin opener.
Baby supplies
Make sure you have nappies and baby formula.
Judge overturns Trump’s White House media ban
A court has issued a temporary restraining order against Donald Trump’s banning of three news organisations from the White House press pool.
The context
CNN, MS Now and must have their access restored for 14 days after a District of Columbia court ruled the move “likely violated their constitutional due process rights”.
- The three media outlets began a legal challenge after their journalists had their White House passes withdrawn. The Trump administration justified the move in court, claiming the organisations published false information and threatened national security.
Why the court overruled Trump
Judge Timothy Kelly ruled the outlets were “likely to succeed” in proving the White House had not exercised “adequate due process” in enforcing the ban.
- Kelly cast doubt on the administration’s arguments that the bans were for national security as Trump did not mention this in his original announcement.
- He also pointed out that “in most cases,” the stories that the Trump administration had taken issue with were written by journalists who “did not even hold card passes”.
- In its original filing, the White House cited statements from officials of the Department of War supporting the ban, but Kelly said they had “no direct knowledge of how reporters operate in the White House, or about any of the facts at issue here”.
The Trump exodus is growing. His allies are running scared
US commentator
With midterm elections a few weeks away, some Republicans are trying to distance themselves from the US President and his unpopular war.
The belief that enemies – and the UK, in particular – are ranged against Russia goes all the way back to foreign attempts to overthrow Lenin’s Bolshevik regime after they seized power in the October revolution of 1917.
Add to that UK-Russia confrontation during the Cold War – “Kim Philby is still the biggest hero of Russian intelligence,” Soldatov says of the man who spied for the Soviets while working at the Foreign Office – and you have a history of enmity that feeds into the current conflict.
In between, there have been good times in relations. The decade after the end of the Cold War, and the early Vladimir Putin years, saw diplomatic co-operation, and increasing trade, even if the spying did not stop. (In 2006, British diplomats in Moscow were caught using a fake rock containing electronic equipment. It was also around that time that a Russian journalist I knew in the West told me that about half of Soviet foreign correspondents had also been reporting to the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence.)
But we are not in those relatively good times any more. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the increasingly confrontational diplomatic relationship between London and Moscow has meant an increased threat from Russian spies. In 2024, the expulsion of the Russian defence attaché – “an undeclared military intelligence officer”, in the words of the government – was just one measure taken to frustrate the Kremlin’s network of agents.
Diplomatic expulsions are an established counter-measure – but they are not enough in the changing world of spying and sabotage. In the 20th century, agents were generally classified as “legals” (those using diplomatic cover) and “illegals” (those in the foreign country under entirely false pretences). Some in the latter category were trained for years, at great expense, to be able to fit imperceptibly into the societies they were to spy on.
Now, there are new kinds of spies. They are cheaper to manage, harder to trace. In short, a whole new threat. You might even say there’s an app for it: people being hired online for one-off attacks.
The 2024 arson attack on the east London warehouse containing supplies for Ukraine, for example, was just one incident showing how dangerous this can be. It was organised by a man who had made contact with Wagner, the Russian mercenary organisation, on Telegram. Six men are now serving long jail terms as a result.
Soldatov sees yet another potential new threat: veterans of Russia’s war in Ukraine, with little to lose – “And these guys, by definition, would be much more aggressive, and would care much less about the risks they take”.
The reasons for the August visit of the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, to Moscow were not made public, but did show that US intelligence is keeping its eyes on the Kremlin. Though they have little to show for their trips to Moscow, the talks that Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have held with Putin are a diplomatic process of sorts.
While that continues, the Kremlin will not want to antagonise the White House.
Relations with London are another matter. The Russian ambassador left in July, prompting speculation that the mission would be downgraded – though the Russia foreign ministry has denied this. Even so, his absence does not mean that other representatives of the Russian state and their hired hands will be idle. Far from it.