Foreign agent scheme omitted from UK national security bill

The Russian embassy in London, one of the states deemed hostile to the UK and a potential threat to democratic transparency. Photograph: Heikki Saukkomaa/Rex/Shutterstock

Plans to require lobbyists, PR firms and other professionals in the UK to register their work for Russia, China or any other foreign country have been unexpectedly left out of the national security bill published on Wednesday.

Insiders said key decisions about what activities would have to be registered had yet to be taken, meaning the foreign agent scheme will have to be introduced via a government amendment to the bill in a few weeks.