China ‘aggressively’ targeting UK – but government has ‘no strategy’ to tackle it, Intelligence and Security Committee of MPs says

Published

2 years ago

July 13, 2023

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The government has “no strategy” to tackle the threat from China and has left the UK “severely handicapped” due to its “short-termist approach”, a new report has claimed.

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) – made up of cross-party MPs – has published its work on the threat Beijing poses, saying China had managed to “successfully penetrate every sector of the UK’s economy”.

But it pointed a lot of fingers at Whitehall, saying resources invested into tackling the threat were “completely inadequate” and the “slow speed” in acting left “a lot to be desired”.

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he welcomed the report, claiming China posed “an epoch-defining challenge to the international order”.

But while he accepted there was “more to do”, the PM said the committee had taken “the bulk of its evidence” from 2020, and since then, the government had strengthened its position with additional laws.

“We will continue to engage with China to preserve and create space for open, constructive, predictable and stable relations that reflect China’s significance in world affairs and to ensure our interests and those of our allies are best advanced,” he added.

The Committee’s chair, Tory MP Sir Julian Lewis, reacted angrily, calling Mr Sunak’s response “defensive”, and telling Sky News the ISC had included multiple updates to report since 2020.

He also said there was a “record of resistance” to the committee’s scrutiny from Downing Street, adding: “The fact is [the government] are very resistant to giving us that sort of scrutiny and fear it because they know we put a great emphasis on security [rather than investment].”

The government has been accused of sitting on the sensitive report after the ISC launched its inquiry in 2019 and sent a draft to the prime minister on 15 May.

One of the Labour members’ of the committee, Kevan Jones, said they had asked the Cabinet Office why it had taken so long for the report to be returned to them, but had yet to have an answer.

He also called Mr Sunak’s response to the report “pretty weak”, telling Sky News Downing Street did not have “the courtesy” to give the committee the response before it was seen by the media.

Chaired by Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis, the nine-member committee scrutinises the work of the UK’s intelligence agencies including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

‘Wake-up call’

The ISC’s findings come as Mr Sunak comes under pressure from some of his backbenchers – including former PM Liz Truss – for not taking a more hawkish stance on China.

The report warned that Chinese state intelligence was “almost certainly the largest in the world”, and it targets the UK “prolifically and aggressively” in a way that poses a “challenge” for British intelligence agencies.

It also said the UK was of “significant interest to China when it comes to espionage and interference”, placing the country “just below China’s top priority targets”.

The committee outlined a number of areas where this was impacting the UK, including the national security threat it posed, its interference in academia and its targeting of industry – particularly nuclear energy, where Beijing’s “scale of investments… demonstrates [its] determination to become a permanent and significant player”.

But it said the fact the country was a strategic threat was “not news”, and the point of the report was – as Tory MP and member of the ISC Theresa Villers put it – to be a “wake-up call” to the government to act.

“The government told the committee that its response to the threat is ‘robust’ and ‘clear eyed’,” the document read.

“China experts were rather less complimentary, concluding that the government has no strategy on china, let alone an effective one, and that it was singularly failing to deploy a ‘whole-of-government’ approach – a damning appraisal indeed.”

Interference from the Chinese government in the UK was “not hard to detect”, it added, but government departments “may not previously have been looking for it”, and there was “no evidence that those departments have the necessary resources, expertise or knowledge of the threat to counter China’s approach”.

The report added: “The UK is now playing catch up and the whole of government has its work cut out to understand and counter the threat from China.

“Yet the government’s focus is still dominated by short-term or acute threats. It has consistently failed to think long-term – unlike China.

“The UK is severely handicapped by the short-termist approach currently being taken.”

The committee also quoted the director general of the MI5, who told the MPs the rise of China “raised huge questions for the future of the western alliance”.

They said: “None of us can give a confident long-term answer to exactly how the balance of power plays out globally across the next few decades, but it is clear for all of us that this is, I think, the central intelligence challenge for us across the next decade.”

UK

Starmer urges anyone with information on Epstein case to come forward – after Andrew misses Congress deadline

Published

10 hours ago

November 23, 2025

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Starmer urges anyone with information on Epstein case to come forward - after Andrew misses Congress deadline

Sir Keir Starmer has urged anyone with information on the Jeffrey Epstein case to come forward after Andrew Mountbatten Windsor missed the deadline to appear in front of US Congress.

US legislators have criticised Andrew for what they describe as “silence” amid their probe into Epstein after he failed to respond to their request for an interview.

When asked about Andrew missing the deadline and whether the former prince should help the case in any way he can, Sir Keir said on his way to the G20 summit in South Africa: “I don’t comment on this particular case.”

He added that “a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it”.

Andrew is not legally obliged to talk to Congress and has always vigorously denied any wrongdoing.

It comes as Marjorie Taylor Greene, a loyal supporter-turned-critic of US President Donald Trump, said on Friday she is resigning from Congress in January.

Ms Greene’s resignation followed a public falling-out with Mr Trump in recent months, as the congresswoman criticised him for his stance on files related to Epstein, as well as on foreign policy and healthcare.

Members of the House Oversight Committee had requested a “transcribed interview” with Andrew in connection with his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein, the paedophile financier who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

But after saying they had not heard back, Democrats Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam accused Andrew of hiding.

Their statement read: “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s silence in the face of the Oversight Democrat’s demand for testimony speaks volumes.

“The documents we’ve reviewed, along with public records and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s testimony, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.

“Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status, or political party. We will get justice for the survivors.”

It follows Andrew being stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles earlier this month.

He had previously agreed to stop using his titles, but had expected to remain a prince and retain his dukedom, ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager – an accusation he denies.

UK

Girl, 13, arrested on suspicion of murdering woman in Swindon

Published

10 hours ago

November 23, 2025

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Girl, 13, arrested on suspicion of murdering woman in Swindon

A 13-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman in Swindon.

Police said the teenager was detained following an incident in Baydon Close, Moredon, in the Wiltshire town on Friday evening.

Officers responded to reports of disorder inside a house. When they arrived, a woman in her 50s living at the address was found to be not breathing. She was declared dead at the scene.

There were no other reported injuries.

Detective Inspector Darren Ambrose, from Wiltshire Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “This is a serious incident in which a woman has sadly died.

“We have set up a cordon at the address while an investigation is carried out.

“I can confirm that we have arrested a teenage girl in connection with this incident and we are not looking for anyone else.”

Police have asked people not to speculate about the incident online as this could prejudice the case.

A police statement read: “Residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while we continue carrying out our enquiries into the woman’s death.

“The suspect remains in custody at this time.”

Police said anyone with concerns should speak with their local neighbourhood policing team, either by emailing or approaching officers in person.

UK

Rail fares to be frozen for first time in 30 years

Published

10 hours ago

November 23, 2025

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Rail fares to be frozen for first time in 30 years

Rail fares are to be frozen for the first time in 30 years, the government has announced.

Ministers promised that millions of rail travellers will save hundreds of pounds on regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns between major cities.

The fare freeze applies to England and services run by English train operators.

People commuting to work three days a week using flexi-season tickets will save £315 a year travelling from Milton Keynes to London, £173 travelling from Woking to London and £57 from Bradford to Leeds, the government said.

The changes are part of Labour’s plans to rebuild a publicly owned Great British Railways. Other planned changes include tap in-tap out and digital ticketing, as well as investing in superfast Wi-Fi.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was introducing a freeze on rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which “will ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier”.

“We all want to see cheaper rail travel, so we’re freezing fares to help millions of passengers save money,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.

“Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year, meaning they keep more of their hard-earned cash.”

Rail unions and passenger groups welcomed the move, praising how it will make travel more affordable for passengers and promote more sustainable travel alternatives.

Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: “More affordable fares will encourage greater use of public transport, supporting jobs, giving a shot in the arm to local economies and helping to improve the environment.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the rail fare freeze “will be a huge relief to working people”.

“This is the right decision, at the right time, to help passengers be able to afford to make that journey they need to take, and to help grow our railway in this country, because the railway is Britain’s green alternative – taking cars and lorries off our congested roads and moving people and goods safely around our country in an environmentally-friendly way,” Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef, said.

The Tories welcomed the move but said the government was “late to the platform”.

Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said: “In government, the Conservatives kept fares on the right track with below-inflation rises and consistently called for no further hikes to protect hard-working commuters.”