Government rejects calls to label China a threat despite parliament ‘spy’ arrest
The government is facing renewed calls to label China a threat after the arrest of a parliamentary researcher on suspicion of spying for the superpower.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden was delivering a statement on the matter in the House of Commons.
Earlier in the afternoon, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle warned MPs against going into details on the matter – or naming the suspect who was arrested – during the debate.
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A slew of Conservative MPs – some of them sanctioned by China – shared their displeasure about the fact they were not told about the arrest of the researcher when it happened.
They, alongside MPs on opposition benches, called on the government to label China a threat to the UK.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also spoke in the Commons after meeting with China’s premier Li Qiang at the G20 over the weekend.
Mr Sunak said: “The sanctity of this place must be protected and the right of members to speak their minds without fear or sanction must be maintained.
“We will defend our democracy and our security – so I was emphatic with premier Li that actions which seek to undermine British democracy are completely unacceptable and will never be tolerated.”
Oliver Dowden said the government had been ‘clear-eyed’ about China
Mr Dowden repeated the government’s position laid out in the integrated review refresh earlier this year, that China was a “systemic challenge” to the UK.
Liz Truss, the former foreign secretary and former prime minister, labelled China as the “largest threat, both to the world and to the United Kingdom, for freedom and democracy.”
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, another ex-leader of the Conservative Party, said: “It’s appalling news that we have a potential cell operating in and around Westminster, an espionage cell, and I as a sanctioned individual alongside many of my colleagues are particularly perturbed by this particular news.”
He added: “The problem lies in the mess we’ve got into over what we define China as in respect to us. Are they a threat or are they not? If they are a threat, why don’t we call them a threat and take the relative action that is necessary to deal with them on that basis and sanction some people?”
Conservative MPs Tim Loughton, Theresa Villiers and Sir Bob Seely also called for the government to take more action.
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How much difference is there between a challenge and a threat?
Quite a lot, according to several Conservative MPs who got up to call for a more robust approach to China in the Commons this afternoon.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden did say the government was “clear about the threat that China poses” but the core position still appears to be that Beijing represents a “systemic challenge”.
That’s not hard enough for many on the backbenches who want China officially designated as a threat, sanctions imposed on individuals and the country barred from an artificial intelligence conference being held in the UK this autumn.
Such a change seems unlikely for now.
The Foreign Office has set out a clear policy of cautious engagement with Beijing, on the grounds of economic necessity and in the search for global solutions to problems like climate change and pandemics.
In a Commons session where any talk of the arrested individual was quickly shut down by the Speaker, one specific question connected to the case did come up.
Did Foreign Secretary James Cleverly raise the alleged Chinese spy with Beijing when he visited two weeks ago?
No, came the answer from Mr Dowden, who said while ministers regularly raise the broader issue of interference – they wouldn’t talk about specific cases, especially ones currently subject to a police investigation.
Mr Dowden conceded China was the “number one state-based threat” to the UK’s economic security.
The minister added the UK government had been “clear-eyed” about the threats China poses towards the UK, and was taking action to tackle them – such as banning Huawei from UK infrastructure and banning TikTok on government phones.
Sir Keir Starmer, who responded to Mr Sunak’s statement, pushed the government on whether Foreign Secretary James Cleverly knew about the arrests before he became the first foreign secretary to visit China in five years.
The visit took place in August, five months after the arrest took place.
Mr Sunak said: “I am sure he will appreciate that as there is an ongoing investigation, as you have also said Mr Speaker, I am limited in what I can say specifically.
“But I have been emphatically clear in our engagement with China that we will not accept any interference in our democracy and parliamentary system.”
Sir Iain asked Mr Dowden a similar question earlier, and was told by the minister that a running commentary could not be provided.
In a statement released by his lawyers, the arrested man said: “I feel forced to respond to the media accusations that I am a ‘Chinese spy’. It is wrong that I should be obliged to make any form of public comment on the misreporting that has taken place.
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“However, given what has been reported, it is vital that it is known that I am completely innocent. I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party.
“To do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for.”
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A former Australian prime minister has said his country should be “prepared to make a contribution” to protect the freedom of Ukraine.
Tony Abbott told Sky News’ Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that no country “will be safe against a bully” if Vladimir Putin wins the war.
He called on Britain to take the lead in protecting Ukraine even without a US backstop – but said all the free countries of the world should be “prepared to make a stand”.
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Mr Abbott, who led the conservative Liberal Party, said: “I personally think that Australia should be prepared to make a contribution to the long term freedom and security of Ukraine.
“The Ukrainians have been fighting for the freedom of everyone. And if Putin is able to snuff out the freedom and the independence of Ukraine, what smaller country anywhere is safe against a bully?
“Is Taiwan safe? Is Australia, for that matter, safe? Is Japan safe?
“This is why it’s important that whatever the Americans ultimately do, the free countries of the world are prepared to make a stand in support of the freedom of Ukraine.”
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer urged America to provide a “security guarantee” to deter Putin and said he is prepared to send British troops to Ukraine if a peace deal is made.
The UK prime minister was speaking following a summit of continental leaders that was arranged by French President Emmanuel Macron, after Donald Trump shocked the world by arranging bilateral talks between the US and Russia – excluding Europe and Ukraine.
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US must provide ‘backstop’ to deter Russia
Mr Abbott said Mr Trump “will blight his second presidency” if he hands a victory to Putin.
“If the result of anything the American president does is to leave Ukraine broken, defenceless, and ultimately a colony of imperial Russia, I think that would be a tragedy,” he said.
He said Sir Keir was “sensible and brave” to consider sending peace keeping troops, but he should be prepared to do this without America’s help, and on its own if necessary.
He said: “Britain is a substantial power. After the United States, it’s the second most powerful country, notwithstanding the current weakness of the British Army. And it should be prepared to take a stand for freedom by protecting Ukraine.
“Britain should be prepared to lead here and it should not expect yet again to ride on America’s coat tails.”
Mr Trump has said the US no longer sees the defence of Europe as its primary concern in a major change of policy since the Second World War.
It has prompted calls for the UK and other NATO countries to increase defence spending.
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Speaking after the Paris summit on Monday night, Sir Keir said a “US security guarantee” is the only path to peace in Ukraine.
But he also insisted “Europe must play its role”, adding: “I’m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement.
“So I will go to Washington next week to meet President Trump and discuss what we see as the key elements of a lasting peace.”
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However, despite three hours of emergency talks, European leaders left the meeting without a common view.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the idea of deploying European peacekeepers as “completely premature” and said it was “completely the wrong time to have this discussion”.
And Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen said her country was “open to discussing many things” but stressed her nation was still very far off deploying its own soldiers to Ukraine.
Watch the full interview on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge from 6.30pm
Some government departments have been asked to make savings which would amount to a 11% cut in spending – as the prime minister faces calls to raise defence spending.
Sky News has been told that departments which do not have their spending protected have been asked to model two options – “flat” spending, which, adjusted for inflation, amounts to a cut; and a deeper reduction amounting to 11% in real terms.
No final decisions on departmental spending will be taken until the Treasury’s spending review, which sets departmental budgets for three years, and will be completed in June. Decisions on possible spending cuts by departments have been described by sources as “incredibly difficult”.
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It comes amid calls to increase defence spending, in the light of the Trump administration’s warning to European nations to shoulder their own security – and send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP but has not set out when this will be achieved. Ministers say a defence review to be published this spring will set out a “roadmap” to it.
Those departments with their budgets protected include the NHS, childcare and schools, defence and overseas aid at 0.5%.
What could be hit?
This raises the prospect of more severe cuts for unprotected departments including local government – which is responsible for social care – justice, including courts and prisons; the environment, Home Office and culture.
British Army Apache helicopters on a military exercise last May. Pic: Reuters
John Healey the defence secretary, announced a shake-up of defence spending at a speech in Westminster, to focus on “war readiness and deterrence”. He said: “At this time, we must rearm Britain.”
He said: “The decisions that we make right now over the coming weeks will not only define the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine, but the security of our world for a generation to come. And the nature of government means dealing with these challenges”.
Mr Healey would not say how quickly defence spending would rise but said conversations over the past week with the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth were about the need to go further.
He said the message was “not new”, adding: “We know as European nations we need to step up on European security, on defence spending and on Ukraine, especially over the last year we’ve been doing just that. What Pete Hegseth accelerated was that recognition that we’re stepping up, but we must go further.”
Raising defence spending to 2.5% of GDP would cost ‘£6bn a year’
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said that increasing defence spending from its current level of 2.3% to 2.5% would mean finding approximately an extra £6bn a year by the end of the parliament.
He said: “Six billion in our overall budget is not enormous. The problem facing the government is that the fiscal situation is so tight, even finding that kind of money is going to be difficult.
“The last government and this one have increased spending quite a bit across quite a range of public services since 2020. So it’s not that we’re coming right off the back of austerity, but we are still in a position where a lot of government departments, the Ministry of Justice, for example, have got less money now than I had all the way back in 2010.
“So it’s still going to be hard for a lot of these areas to swallow any further cuts or even to cope with flat spending.”
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A Treasury spokesperson said: “The chancellor has asked all departments to deliver savings and efficiencies of 5% of their current budget as part of the first zero-based spending review in seventeen years and every pound of government spending is being interrogated, to root out waste and get the best value for taxpayers.
“National security is a foundation of this government’s plan for change, which is why we have increased defence spending by almost £3bn while delivering the highest pay rise for our armed forces in over 20 years.
“We will set out a path to 2.5% once the strategic defence review has concluded. We will not give a running commentary while the review is undertaken.”
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