Why case of jailed Briton Jimmy Lai is major sticking point for Keir Starmer’s relations with China
The UK government is facing increasing pressure to call on China to release jailed pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai as it seeks closer trading ties with Beijing.
Media tycoon Mr Lai is currently on trial in Hong Kong facing charges under the city’s national security law, imposed by Beijing in 2020 in response to mass pro-democracy protests.
Mr Lai’s imprisonment and trial have become a sticking point for the British government in their dealings with China.
Chinese foreign secretary Wang Yi met Mr Lammy, and Sir Keir Starmer briefly, in London on Thursday, and pressure was on the UK foreign secretary to raise Mr Lai’s situation and call for his release.
Why is Jimmy Lai a British issue?
The 77-year-old has lived in Hong Kong since he was 12 years old, after stowing away on a fishing boat from China and working as a child labourer in a garment factory.
He built up fashion empire Giordano and after becoming a democracy advocate following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, he set up a magazine in Hong Kong.
Ahead of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China, he started Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily in an attempt to maintain freedom of speech.
Around the same time, in 1994, he became a full British citizen.
He has never held a Chinese or Hong Kong passport but because he was born in mainland China, Hong Kong authorities deem him to be a Chinese citizen.
Mr Lai has homes all over the world, including in London, Paris, Taipei and Kyoto. But his sole passport is British.
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‘Hong Kong’s become a policed state’
Why is he in jail?
During the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, Mr Lai’s Apple Daily adopted the position of the protesters, criticising the government.
In June 2021, Apple Daily was raided by the police, who seized documents, froze its accounts and arrested its executives, leading to its closure.
Mr Lai was arrested and charged under the newly introduced national security law with collusion with foreign forces, as well as sedition under colonial-era laws.
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Mr Lai during a protest in 2019
He was also charged with unauthorised assembly for attending the protests, and fraud for a lease violation, which he has denied and has been condemned by the US as spurious.
The media tycoon has been found guilty of various other charges, including attending a Tiananmen vigil, which has meant he has been in a high-security jail since December 2020.
What about his trial?
In December 2023, Mr Lai’s national security law trial, where he faces charges of collusion with foreign forces and conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications, started after years of delay.
After seven months, the court refused to dismiss the charges and adjourned the trial before Mr Lai could testify.
He was kept in solitary confinement and the trial resumed in November last year, when he first took to the stand.
Jimmy Lai pictured arriving at court on 12 December 2020: File pic: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
The media tycoon has now testified for more than 40 days, facing questioning about his editorial control over Apple Daily, links to activists in Hong Kong, the UK and US and meetings with US politicians.
In December, he told the trial he believed the UK had a “moral responsibility” to lead international support of Hong Kong, but denied requesting the UK government engaged in hostile activities against China and Hong Kong.
What has the British government done?
Boris Johnson
When Mr Lai was charged under the national security law in 2020, then prime minister Boris Johnson said the UK was “deeply concerned”.
This prompted the Chinese embassy in London to express “grave concern” about the “irresponsible remarks” which they said were an “act of interference”.
However, any pressure from the government appeared to drop after that for a few years.
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‘This is what Hong Kong is’
A lack of engagement
A handful of “China hawks” in parliament, including former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory foreign affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns, Lord Alton and Labour MP Catherine West, have consistently raised Mr Lai’s case in parliament.
Mr Lai’s son, Sebastien, and his father’s international legal team called several times for a meeting with Liz Truss and James Cleverly when they were foreign secretaries but that never happened, although they did meet with a foreign minister.
James Cleverly
Rhetoric then ratcheted up, with Mr Cleverly raising Mr Lai’s case directly with Chinese vice president Han Zheng as well as at the “highest levels with the Hong Kong authorities”.
Mr Cleverly accused Hong Kong in May 2023 of “deliberately targeting prominent pro-democracy figures, journalists and politicians in an effort to silence and discredit them”, adding: “Detained British dual national Jimmy Lai is one such figure.”
The then foreign secretary James Cleverly with China’s Vice President Han Zheng
Lord Cameron and Rishi Sunak
Lord Cameron, as foreign secretary, called for Mr Lai’s charges to be dropped at the end of 2023, and for his immediate release.
In a January 2024 letter to the last governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, Rishi Sunak called Mr Lai’s trial “politically motivated” and vowed to keep raising the case with Beijing as a priority.
However, Mr Sunak dodged questions about whether he had personally raised his case with the Chinese government.
Starmer government
With a change of government, Mr Lai’s family and supporters hoped there would be a more concerted effort.
Three months after winning the general election, Sir Keir said securing the release of Mr Lai was a “priority” for his government and said it would “continue” to raise the case with China.
Sebastien Lai welcomed his words but asked the PM to “put word to action to save my father’s life and bring him home”.
David Lammy and Wang Yi in Beijing. Pic: AP
Ahead of his first trip to China as foreign secretary in October, Mr Lammy was urged by MPs sanctioned by Beijing to raise the case of political prisoners in Hong Kong, including Mr Lai.
The Foreign Office said he pressed Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Mr Lai’s detention, and Mr Lammy said he “was able to have dialogue with the Chinese on areas where we disagree, areas like Hong Kong”.
Mr Lammy then joined Chancellor Rachel Reeves on a trip to revive economic ties after “years of tension”. She said she raised Mr Lai’s imprisonment with every minister she met in China.
During the latest meeting of Mr Lammy and Mr Yi, Number 10 said Sir Keir also met him briefly and told him he wants “consistent and respectful relations” and to deepen trade relations with China.
It did not say if he brought up Mr Lai, but the foreign secretary said ahead of the meeting: “We will also discuss issues where the UK and China do not always see eye to eye. In some cases, the UK does have significant concerns.”
A man has been found guilty of the murder of an 86-year-old woman after DNA which matched his profile was found on her nail clippings.
Una Crown, a retired postmistress, was found dead at her home in the Wisbech area of Cambridgeshire on 13 January 2013.
She had sustained stab wounds to her chest, her throat was cut and her clothes set on fire.
Initially, her death was not considered suspicious by police, which prosecutor John Price described as a “grave error of judgement”.
David Newton, 70, was charged with Mrs Crown’s murder last year but he denied the offence.
On Thursday at Cambridge Crown Court, he appeared open-mouthed as the foreman returned the jury’s guilty verdict.
Newton was found guilty by a majority of 10 jurors to two after deliberating for 29 hours and 13 minutes.
David Newton has been found guilty at Cambridge Crown Court. Pic: PA
John Payne, the husband of Mrs Crown’s niece, found her in her hallway on 13 January 2013.
He had driven to her address to collect her for Sunday lunch at their house.
Prosecuting, Mr Price told the jury that Mrs Crown was killed the day before and that male DNA matching David Newton’s profile was discovered by scientists in 2023.
The prosecution said the reason why Newton went to Mrs Crown’s home and killed her were “not matters that the prosecution need prove”.
But the trial heard the defendant was on state benefits in 2013 – his only source of regular income – and that he was “spending freely” on 13 January.
The prosecution also said money was missing from Mrs Crown’s handbag.
Una Crown with her husband Jack. Pic: PA
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Detective Superintendent Iain Moor from Cambridgeshire Police said the force had apologised to Mrs Crown’s family for “mistakes” during the initial investigation in 2013.
Using a DNA testing technique that was not available then, police were able to “cast doubt on David Newton’s claims that he hadn’t seen [Mrs Crown] on the day, or days, before her death”.
“For more than a decade he thought he had gotten away with this most horrendous crime, but today’s result shows you cannot hide forever,” Mr Moor added.
Newton is due to be sentenced at the same court on February 14.
The Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is exploring launching private criminal proceedings against NatWest Group over the debanking scandal which resulted in the lender’s former chief losing her job.
Sky News has learnt that Mr Farage has instructed Chris Daw KC of Lincoln House Chambers to examine whether there are grounds for bringing a criminal case against the high street banking giant.
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The move appears to be deliberately timed to coincide with the publication of NatWest’s annual results on Friday morning, which will come just weeks before the government is expected to sell its last-remaining shares in the company, nearly 17 years after its £45.5bn taxpayer bailout.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on Wednesday. Pic: PA
Mr Farage confirmed to Sky News on Thursday evening that Grosvenor Law, which is acting for him in separate civil proceedings against the bank, had instructed Mr Daw KC to explore a private criminal prosecution, adding: “This is unfinished business.”
Dan Morrison, a partner at Grosvenor Law, said in a separate statement: “Mr Farage is concerned about possible criminal issues arising out of the bank’s conduct.
“We do not wish to provide further details.
“We have therefore decided to instruct leading criminal counsel.”
The debanking furore which claimed the scalp of Dame Alison Rose, NatWest’s former chief executive, in the summer of 2023 centred on whether the bank’s Coutts subsidiary decided to close Mr Farage’s accounts for commercial or political reasons.
Dame Alison Rose. Pic: PA
NatWest initially claimed the motivation was commercial before Mr Farage obtained internal evidence from the bank suggesting that his politics had been a pivotal factor in the decision.
It sparked a firestorm under the then Conservative government, with Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, the then prime minister and chancellor respectively, indicating to NatWest’s board that they had lost faith in Dame Alison’s ability to lead the bank.
Since then, the City watchdog has instructed banks and other financial firms to do more to ensure that parliamentarians, senior public servants and their families – known as politically exposed persons, or PEPs – are not treated unfairly.
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Mr Farage’s decision to hire Mr Daw KC threatens a fresh escalation against one of Britain’s biggest banks at a time when some argue that he has become the country’s most influential politician.
He led Reform to a handful of seats at last year’s general election, while his party finished in second place in scores of other constituencies.
The Reform leader’s close ties to Donald Trump, inaugurated last month for the second time as US President, have fuelled the sense that he may play an even more crucial role in shaping the identity of Britain’s next government when the country goes to the polls in 2029.
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A recent opinion poll for Sky News by YouGov put Reform ahead of both Labour and the Tories for the first time.
Since the summer of 2023, tentative discussions between Mr Farage’s legal representatives and NatWest about a possible settlement have failed to result in any financial agreement.
Mr Farage was expected to seek millions of pounds from the company, alleging that the debanking row had damaged his reputation.
Despite the threat of a fresh legal barrage from Mr Farage, NatWest – now run by Paul Thwaite – is in its most robust financial health for decades.
The government’s stake in the bank is now below 8%, and a full exit is expected during the spring.
A NatWest spokesperson said it did not comment on individual customers.
NHS dentists are “very weak” and “not fit for purpose”, England’s chief medical officer has warned.
Professor Sir Chris Whitty has told MPs that a lack of NHS dentistry access for children will set them up for “lifelong poor dental health”.
Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, Sir Chris said: “The NHS dental system is very weak and has got weaker over time.
“I think we would all say this is a problem, particularly for those who find it difficult to get dental services when they need them in states of emergency.
“So I think everyone should agree that the NHS dentistry is in a much weaker state than most other areas of the NHS.”
Sir Chris Whitty giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee. Pic: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire
Sir Chris added: “The last time I think most people in the country would consider that NHS dentistry was operating as they would anticipate it should do was probably in the early 1990s and the changes since then have all tended to either do nothing or make things worse.”
Sir Chris, who is also the interim permanent secretary at the Department for Health and Social Care, stressed that early prevention “is absolutely critical”.
However, he added the “very sad reality” was the opposite.
Amanda Pritchard and Professor Sir Chris Whitty. Pic: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire
The professor also warned that a “common procedure” among children in hospital is the “destruction of teeth” due to tooth decay – which sets them up “for lifelong poor dental health”.
Data shows as many as six in 10 children have rotting teeth by the age of five – with stark differences between the poorer regions of England, and the more affluent.
For example, the number of five-year-olds with poor dental hygiene was on the rise in London, the North East and the South West.
Sir Chris, and other NHS leaders, criticised the NHS ‘recovery plan’ put in place by the previous Conservative government for failing to deliver new dentists or more appointments.
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The Dental Recovery Plan was first introduced by Conservative health ministers in February 2024 – an attempt to tackle England’s NHS dentistry crisis. It promised to introduce 1.5 million new treatments for patients.
But when asked if the plan was on track, Sir Chris said: “The very short answer is no.”
The committee also heard that while the number of dentists has risen, the number providing discounted NHS care has decreased.
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