The husband of former Labour MP Gloria De Piero has confirmed his home was searched on Wednesday as part of a police investigation into an alleged Chinese spying ring. James Robinson, a former aide to the ex-Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, issued a statement confirming the raid on the home he shares with his wife, but said he had not been detained or questioned by police. He said: “I can confirm that police officers visited my home yesterday with a search warrant. I understand their attendance was part of enquiries…
Tag: Labour
Mandelson’s conduct with Epstein ‘far below standard expected’, says minister as Brown calls for inquiry into ‘shocking’ leak – UK politics live
From 2h ago Mandelson’s conduct with Epstein ‘unequivocally wrong’ and ‘far below standard expected of any minister’, Jones says Jones says Jeffrey Epstein was “a despicable criminal who committed disgusting crimes and destroyed the lives of countless women and girls”. He goes on: On Friday, the Department of Justice in the United States released around 3 million pages from the case files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. It is increasingly clear that his awful crimes involved and were facilitated by many, often powerful people, both by actively participating in the crimes…
Trump warns UK against doing business with China after Starmer visits Beijing – UK politics live
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The Guardian view on Keir Starmer in China: engagement is necessary, caution is vital | Editorial
It has been clear for many years that China’s status as a second global superpower poses challenges to the world’s democracies. Donald Trump’s marauding behaviour as president of the first-placed superpower makes those challenges more acute. In the past, the UK’s relationship with Beijing has been anchored, and sometimes dictated, by the alliance with Washington. Mr Trump’s contempt for former allies, expressed as sabotage of Nato and a scattergun imposition of tariffs, scrambles the old strategic calculus. This is an ominous backdrop for Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing. The…
Starmer says he is ‘focused on our national interest’ as he begins China visit – UK politics live
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Starmer vows to raise issues ‘that need to be raised’ with Xi amid push to free Jimmy Lai
Keir Starmer has said he will “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as he arrived in Beijing for the first trip to the country by a UK leader in eight years. The prime minister has come under pressure from rights groups to try to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, the jailed former media tycoon and one of Hong Kong’s most significant pro-democracy voices. The British citizen faces spending the rest of his life in prison after he was found…
From the Burnham row to the China visit, avoiding hard choices is the Starmer doctrine | Rafael Behr
There comes a point in a prime minister’s career when foreign travel offers respite from domestic trouble. Even when relations with the host country are tricky, as Britain’s are with China, the dignifying protocols of statecraft make a beleaguered politician feel valued. Next comes the phase where missions overseas feel dangerous because plotters can organise more openly against absent leaders. Keir Starmer is in transit between those two zones of decline. His position is not yet imperilled by the row over Andy Burnham’s thwarted ambition to run in the Gorton…
The Guardian view on food security: Britain can no longer trust markets alone | Editorial
Food policy across much of the world is changing. But not in Britain. That may be a costly mistake as the prices of essentials rise because of the climate emergency, geopolitical tensions and the fragility of just-in-time supply chains. Many capitals are now reviving their strategic food reserves. European nations such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany are rebuilding stocks dismantled after the cold war. Climate shocks have led to Egypt and Bangladesh boosting similar programmes. Countries such as Brazil and Indonesia – sensitive to the food needs of their…
Minister tells MPs that China mega-embassy will have ‘clear security advantages’ – UK politics live
From 52m ago Minister tells MPs MI5 and GCHQ think having all Chinese diplomats on one site will have ‘clear security advantages’ In the Commons Dan Jarvis, the security minister, is taking questions from MPs about the decision to approve the Chinese “super-embassy”. He quoted from the letter written by Sir Ken McCallum, the MI5 director general, and Anne Keast-Butler, the GCHQ director, about this project, and put particular emphasis on this passage. It is worth reiterating the new embassy will replace seven different diplomatically-accredited sites across London which China…
Tories call for block on Chinese super-embassy amid claims of hidden chamber near sensitive cables – UK politics live
From 50m ago ‘Frankly insanity’ – Tories claim plan revelations show why Labour should block Chinese ‘super-embassy’ plan Responding to Pennycook, Alicia Kearns, a shadow Home Office minister, said she was disappointed by the fact that she just got a “technocratic history lesson” from the minister. She went on: 208 secret rooms and a hidden chamber just one metre from cable serving City of London and the British people. That is what the unredacted plans tell us that the Chinese Communist Party has planned for its new embassy if the…