Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that humanitarian organisations' operations are not inadvertently impacted by the National Security (State Threats) Bill; and whether they have considered a specific exemption for those organisations to provide legal certainty.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The National Security (State Threats) Bill will create a power for the Secretary of State to designate state and state-linked bodies involved in foreign power threat activity. The offences which follow aim to deter and disrupt those who support hostile activity.
It is neither the intention nor effect of the Bill to disrupt legitimate humanitarian activity, often carried out in difficult operating environments. There are safeguards and defences in the offences, as drafted, which prevent this from happening.
The Government has committed to working with humanitarian organisations to ensure the interpretation of the Bill is clear and does not impede their vital work. The Government accepted amendments in the House of Lords to address the humanitarian issue.