China ‘aggressively’ targeting UK – but government has ‘no strategy’ to tackle it, Intelligence and Security Committee of MPs says
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”.
Politics live: Decisions on public sector pay expected soon
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].”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Former prime minister Liz Truss has called for stronger actions against Beijing.
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.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Former prime minister Liz Truss has called for stronger actions against Beijing.
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
Heidi Alexander named new transport secretary after Louise Haigh’s resignation over mobile phone guilty plea
The first vote on the assisted dying bill is not only hugely consequential, it’s also hugely unpredictable and even as the vote draws near it still feels like it could go either way.
MPs will debate the bill, brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, in parliament today before they get a free vote on the legislation.
There are a few reasons why the potential outcome of the vote is difficult to predict. Firstly, the last Commons vote on this issue was back in 2015. It was also a Private Members’ Bill and a free vote, that was defeated by 331 to 119 – 199 MPs didn’t vote and one abstained.
That may seem like a useful starting point to predict future results but there has been an unprecedented turnover of MPs since then.
Politics latest: Starmer blames Tories for ‘open borders’
It was less than a decade ago but over two-thirds of those MPs from 2015 are no longer in parliament. This means there’s no voting record that can help us out this time round.
Secondly, it’s a free vote so we can’t, as we usually would, look to the political parties to work out the numbers.
Every single one of the 650 MPs must make up their minds for themselves and they have all taken a slightly different approach to the process.
How MPs have told Sky News they will vote on assisted dying
Some came out straight away and declared their position publicly. Some took their time and have only decided in the last few days, putting out statements on social media platforms.
There are also those who prefer to keep it to themselves, and some who are genuinely still undecided and will be until they walk through the voting lobbies.
So, to get a sense of what could happen, at Sky News we have been monitoring declarations as well as reaching out to every MP personally.
This has given us, on the eve of the second reading, an informative but still incomplete picture.
So far we have confirmed that 181 MPs will vote for the bill, while 148 say they will vote against, and 300 are either undecided or haven’t revealed their decision.
There are also 20 MPs that won’t vote – the SNP because the changes won’t apply in Scotland, Sinn Fein who don’t sit in Westminster, and the Speaker and Deputy Speakers.
Of those who will vote but whose position is still unknown, about two-thirds are Labour MPs – a big chunk of those are brand new.
This is the deciding cohort, who just a few months into their roles will make a life-or-death decision that will influence generations to come – no pressure.
Ms Leadbeater has said she hopes parliament will “show itself at its best” by voting in favour of the bill.
In a statement on Thursday night, she said: “I hope this parliament will also be remembered for this major social reform that gives people autonomy over the end of their lives and puts right an injustice that has been left on the statute books for far too long.
“People will be looking in on parliament as it debates this important change to the law – a change that, when we most need it, could bring comfort to any one of us or to somebody we love.”
Read more on assisted dying:
Analysis: Bill could be wrecked by dirty tricks
Five stories that bring the assisted dying debate home
David Cameron comes out in support of bill
How MPs are making up their minds
What does the bill propose?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lord Cameron to support assisted dying bill
What could make the difference?
Most MPs tell us they have been poring over the legislation line-by-line and listening intently to their constituents.
But beyond that, there are external factors that will no doubt have influenced their thinking.
Public opinion will be high on the list, with the latest YouGov poll – one of many – showing an overwhelming majority (73%) of the public are in favour of a change in the law.
The other will be how Cabinet ministers vote, with many high profile and respected names, Ed Miliband and Hilary Benn among them, coming out in favour.
MPs will vote in the House of Commons on the bill
More controversial though are those who oppose the bill.
In particular, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood have made the news with their views.
They will both have to take a leading role in implementing the legislation if it passes.
Mr Streeting shocked Westminster when he revealed he had changed his mind after voting for the 2015 version.
He also ruffled feathers among colleagues when he appeared to breach the etiquette around free votes, by repeatedly raising concerns around extra pressures on the NHS and making the case for improving palliative care instead.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting changed his mind on the issue. Pic: PA
Mr Streeting’s position and approach have made the bill’s supporters nervous that new MPs will fall in behind him.
In contrast, other big beasts – the prime minister, the chancellor and the foreign secretary – remain silent on which way they will go, aware that their opinions could sway the result.
As it stands, after all the number crunching, it looks likely that this landmark legislation will pass the second reading.
But with so many unknowns, both sides will feel that even at this late stage, it’s still impossible to call.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway