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Security Service Act 1989

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This is the original version (as it was originally enacted).

1The Security Service

(1)There shall continue to be a Security Service (in this Act referred to as “the Service”) under the authority of the Secretary of State.

(2)The function of the Service shall be the protection of national security and, in particular, its protection against threats from espionage, terrorism and sabotage, from the activities of agents of foreign powers and from actions intended to overthrow or undermine parliamentary democracy by political, industrial or violent means.

(3)It shall also be the function of the Service to safeguard the economic well-being of the United Kingdom against threats posed by the actions or intentions of persons outside the British Islands.

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