Rishi Sunak has said Beijing is “acting in a way that is more authoritarian and assertive abroad” after Sky News revealed China hacked the Ministry of Defence
The prime minister made his first comments about the massive data breach on Tuesday lunchtime after Sky News revealed on Monday evening that China is responsible for hacking the armed forces’ third-party payroll system.
He refused to name China but said a “malign actor has compromised the armed forces payment network”.
“I set out a very robust policy towards China, which means that we need to take the powers which we have done to protect ourselves against the risk that China and other countries pose to us,” he added.
“They are a country with fundamentally different values to ours that are acting in a way that is more authoritarian and assertive abroad.”
Mr Sunak said he wanted to reassure people the MoD has already removed the network, taken it offline and is “making sure the people affected are supported in the right way”.
Names and bank details of current army, Royal Navy and RAF personnel and some veterans were exposed by the hack.
China said the accusations were “completely fabricated and malicious slanders”.
Advertisement
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London denied the country had anything to do with an MoD hack and said it had made “relevant responses” to accusations on the 25 and 27 March.
He accused the UK of politicising cyber security and claimed there was no factual evidence of China hacking the MoD.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:20
China: Hacking allegations ‘absurd’
‘China has no need to meddle in internal affairs of UK’
The spokesman said: “I will hereby reiterate that the so-called cyber attacks by China against the UK are completely fabricated and malicious slanders.
“We strongly oppose such accusations. China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to law. China does not encourage, support or condone cyber attacks.
“At the same time, we oppose the politicisation of cyber security issues and the baseless denigration of other countries without factual evidence.
“China has neither the interest nor the need to meddle in the internal affairs of the UK.”
The attack was focused on a contractor system that is not connected to the main MoD computer systems. It has now been taken down and a review launched.
All salaries will be paid this month and the MoD hopes serving personnel will not be concerned about their safety, with staff to be provided with advice and support.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is due to make a statement on the issue to the Commons this afternoon.
Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and former soldier, told Sky News China “was probably looking at the financially vulnerable with a view that they may be coerced in exchange for cash”.
Image: Sir Iain Duncan Smith says the government needs to stand up to China. File pic: PA
China is winning the war
Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who has been sanctioned by China, told Sky News: “China is behind this.
“And the reluctance, I think, comes from this panic that somehow if we upset China, China will kill the business.”
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the hack was “deeply concerning” and the government “has got questions to answer”.
Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said Beijing has carried out many cyber attacks on Britain but the UK has only retaliated once in the form of sanctioning the companies carrying out the attack rather than the Chinese government.
He added that FBI director Christopher Wray “put it pretty starkly” when he said Beijing’s cyber espionage programme is so vast it is bigger than all its major competitors combined.
Image: The hack targeted an MoD payroll system. File pic: Reuters
Not China’s first cyber attack on UK
The hack could raise questions about whether other countries with challenging relationships with China will want to share sensitive intelligence with the UK.
The attack comes less than two months after “state-affiliated actors”, alleged to be working on behalf of China, were blamed by the government for two “malicious” cyber attack campaigns in the UK.
In 2019, nine men were jailed for raping and abusing two teenage girls living in a children’s home in Bradford.
One of the victims, Fiona Goddard, says more than 50 men raped her.
When the government began to talk about offering councils money for local inquiries, Fiona hoped Bradford would be one of the first to take up the offer. But there didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm.
The council was quick to point out that there had already been an independent case review into Fiona’s case, along with four other victims.
This, then, was Fiona’s first reasoning for wanting a national inquiry: The council felt it had done all that needed to be done. Fiona didn’t.
The Independent review, published in July 2021, found that while in the children’s home, Fiona “went missing almost on a daily basis”. The police attitude was that she could look after herself – she was “street-wise”.
There was “agreement by all agencies that Fiona was either at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) or actively being sexually abused and exploited”. But “this was not addressed by any single agency”.
And “when Fiona became pregnant at the age of 15, there was little curiosity or enquiry who the father was”.
So, obvious failings were discovered.
The predictable response was that lessons had been learned and new processes put in place. But no one seemed to be held accountable.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:07
Grooming gangs: What happened?
Ms Goddard told Sky News: “In my serious case review she [Jane Booth, the independent chair] found seven incidences at least, in them records that she found, of them not reporting sexual abuse or rape or assault, from as young as eight years old, and one of the incidences I literally turned up covered in blood and they didn’t report it.
“That is not just misunderstanding a crime, that is making intentional decisions not to report the sexual abuse of a child.”
She adds: “Let’s not forget, these people still work within social services and the police force.”
Not only did this Independent review not satisfy Fiona, but it also didn’t begin to reflect the levels and scale of abuse Fiona had experienced outside of Bradford.
Image: ‘I literally turned up covered in blood and they didn’t report it,’ Fiona says
Asked where she was trafficked to, Fiona rattles off a list of cities.
“Blackburn, Rotherham, Rochdale, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Oldham – never Telford, I’d never even heard of Telford until it all came out if I’m honest – Nottingham, Oxford.”
Then she remembers she didn’t go to Oxford – men from Oxford came to her – but the point is made.
Local enquiries can’t possibly begin to explore the networks of men who traffic women, often down routes of drug trafficking being done by the same gangs.
Bradford Council told Sky News it contributed to the national Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and published more than 70 reports where child sexual exploitation was discussed and has implemented findings from the independent local review which included Fiona’s case.
Fiona believes there are numerous connections leading back to Bradford – but victims from each city often believe their abusers are at the centre of it.
We’ve spoken to grooming victims across the country, and in 2022, a case was reopened in Humberside after a Sky News investigation, where we found diary entries, texts, photos, and school reports all indicating that teenage victims had been abused.
One of them was “Anna”, who also wants a national inquiry. She believes there is a national pattern of police forces not believing victims or even criminalising them instead.
Obtaining her own police records using a Subject Access Request (SAR), Anna found officers’ attitudes towards her were similar to what we heard with Fiona in Bradford, blaming her abuse and injuries on “lifestyle choices of her own”.
Anna said: “Every time I look at my Subject Access Request, I still think it’s shocking.
“It was the same sort of terminology – lifestyle choices, liar, attention seeker, and the majority of it was negative.
“It was really rare that I’d come across something where they were actually listening or they were concerned.”
Humberside Police told us: “As the investigation is active, it is imperative we protect its integrity; as such are unable to comment on aspects of the investigation as this could impact or jeopardise any criminal or judicial proceedings.”
But it is years now since Anna first reported her abuse, and she believes the police have left it too late to gather evidence.
She told Sky News: “I think it’s either happening everywhere, or young people have been taken everywhere.
“I think the attitudes of the professionals, the police, social services, from what I’ve heard and seen, they seem very similar in every area.”
The government-commissioned rapid review by Baroness Casey is due to be published next week and is expected to call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
They will want the inquiry to probe into the operations of the perpetrators – who they are and how they are connected.
But they will also want clear accountability of the people and organisations who failed to act when they reported their abuse – and an understanding of why, so often, authorities fail to protect these vulnerable girls.
A woman has died after falling into the water at a popular beauty spot in the Scottish Highlands.
The 23-year-old had fallen into the water in the Rogie Falls area of Wester Ross.
Police Scotland confirmed emergency services attended the scene after being called at 1.45pm on Saturday.
“However, [she] was pronounced dead at the scene,” a spokesperson said.
“There are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”
Rogie Falls are a series of waterfalls on the Black Water, a river in Ross-shire in the Highlands of Scotland. They are a popular attraction for tourists on Scotland’s North Coast 500 road trip.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have wished their “Papa”, Prince William, a happy Father’s Day.
The post on the Prince and Princess of Wales‘s official social media pages features two photos – captioned “before and after”.
The children are seen hugging their father – and then piling on top of him.
The post reads: “Happy Father’s Day, Papa (before and after!) We love you! G, C & L.”
The two photographs of the family – one colour and one black and white – were taken earlier this year in Norfolk by photographer Josh Shinner, who also took Prince Louis’s birthday portraits earlier this year.
The post follows yesterday’s Trooping the Colour, celebrating King Charles‘s official birthday, after which the family shared a rare posed photo taken on the day of the event.
The first photo shows the Prince of Wales wearing a green woollen jumper and jeans, with his arms around George, 11, and Charlotte, 10, with Louis, seven, standing in front of him.
The second picture shows everyone in a bundle, lying on grass and daffodils, with Prince William at the centre.
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.
The Royal family traditionally shares public wishes for Father’s Day and Mother’s Day.
Last year, the Prince of Wales shared a photo of himself playing football with the King, taken in the gardens of Kensington Palace in June 1984, just ahead of his second birthday.
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.