Freedom House Security T comprehensive response to malign activities by foreign state that integrates tools from across the government. Government awareness Also in 2021, the Home Office undertook consultation on “Legislation to Counter State Threats (Hostile State Activity).” The consultation proposed new measures—including reforming the Official Secrets Act, creating a foreign influence registration scheme, and establishing civil orders for cases where hostile state actions cannot be proven to be criminal— that had not been enacted at the time of writing. Under the term “state threats,” the Home Office identified tactics including assassination, forced repatriation and harassment, noting that “a small number of states present a physical threat to UK …citizens and residents at home and abroad, as well as third-country nationals in the UK.” 8 This definition is similar to the definition of transnational repression used by Freedom House but differs in two important ways. It is a broader definition because it includes people who are not nationals of the foreign country, but it is simultaneously narrower because it does not capture nonphysical tactics such as coercion by proxy, document controls, or digital attacks. ransnational repression is relevant to the work of multiple agencies in the UK’s sprawling national security apparatus, including MI5, MI6, the Metropolitan Police, counterterrorism units and intelligence units, and the Joint State Threats Assessment Teams. The threat of transnational repression is reflected in the UK’s national security policy and the government has taken action to protect potential targets. The UK government has at times used foreign policy tools to hold perpetrators accountable, but these steps are inconsistent and tied to conflicting political goals. The UK government’s assessment of foreign threats demonstrates an awareness of transnational repression. The attack on Skripal renewed attention on policies surrounding foreign threats to the UK. The poisoning was discussed extensively in Parliament, and in 2018 the government announced it was taking new steps to counter activities by foreign states. This included giving police the power to stop individuals suspected of engaging in hostile state activity when they attempted to enter the country and conducting a review of the UK’s ability to counter hostile state threats. 3 Subsequently, the government released several initiatives and papers focusing on the issue. During his annual threat update shared in July 2021, MI5 director general Ken McCallum discussed state threats, highlighting the Salisbury attack and showing an understanding of tactics and targets of transnational repression. He emphasized the need to build “public awareness and resilience” as well as to update laws.4 The 2020 National Risk Register identifies hostile state activity as a significant threat 5 and in May 2021 the Queen announced the government’s plans to introduce legislation “to counter hostile state activity by foreign states.” 6 The March 2021 policy paper “Global Britain in a Competitive Age” outlines the government’s intentions to counter state threats. The paper addresses a wide range of activities that constitute state threats, including espionage, political interference, sabotage, assassination and poisonings, electoral interference, disinformation, propaganda, cyber operations, and intellectual property theft. 7 Due to the paper’s breadth, the policies and issues it describes are not always relevant to transnational repression. Promisingly, however, the paper identifies the importance of multilateral responses, noting the collective response to the Salisbury attack, and the need for a The threat of transnational repression is reflected in the UK’s national security policy and the government has taken action to protect potential targets. Proactive protection and legal action There is no known public preventative outreach related to extraterritorial attacks in the UK, but authorities have intervened to provide warnings, protection, and legal action in specific cases. The police issue threat to life warnings, or Osman warnings, when they identify a credible threat of murder. 9 In these cases, police provide guidance on changing behavior to help mitigate the threat and have reportedly offered protection to some individuals facing threats. The Metropolitan Police issued threat to life warnings to at least two Rwandans, René Mugenzi and Jonathan Musonera, in freedomhouse.org 3