British parliamentary researcher 'who spied for China' is arrested

09 September 2023 , 20:03

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A Commons passholder has been arrested, as well as a second man in his 30s (Image: PA)

A British Parliamentary researcher has been arrested on suspicion of being a Chinese spy, it has been reported.

Police confirmed a man in his twenties, and a second in his thirties had been arrested on suspicion of espionage offences in March. The man in his twenties is reported to be a Commons passholder, who has been linked to a number of senior Tory MPs.

They include Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and security minister Tom Tugendhat. Ms Kearns declined to comment last night, saying she had a “duty to ensure any work of the Authorities is not jeopardised.”

The Times reported a Whitehall source commenting: "This is a major escalation by China. We have never seen anything like this before. The older man was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire, while the younger man was arrested in Edinburgh. Both their addresses were searched by police, as well as a third address in East London. Both were released on bail until early October.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: “Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested two men on March 13 on a suspicion of offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act, 1911.” They clarified that this part of the act relates to “the passing of information that may be ‘prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State’ and communications which are ‘calculated to be or…intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy.”

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