POLICE on Wednesday arrested three men on suspicion of spying for China, including the husband of a lawmaker from prime minister Keir Starmer's Labour party.
The men, aged 39, 43 and 68, were detained by counter-terrorism officers in London and Wales on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, the Metropolitan Police said.
UK media reported that one of those arrested was David Taylor, the husband of Labour MP Joani Reid.
"I have never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law," Reid said after the reports.
"I am not part of my husband's business activities and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation," she added.
All three men remain in custody. The arrests come as concerns grow in Britain over alleged Chinese espionage.
The case comes at a time when relations with Beijing have been under scrutiny. Starmer has faced criticism from opposition politicians, human rights groups and US President Donald Trump for approving a Chinese embassy project in central London and for visiting Beijing earlier this year.
Starmer has defended the trip, the first by a British prime minister to China since 2018, saying it was needed to maintain ties with the world’s second largest economy.
Reid, who represents a constituency in Scotland and sits on parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee, rejected suggestions that she had links with Beijing.
"I have never been to China," she said. "I have never spoken on China or China-related matters in the Commons. I have never asked a question on China-related matters."
Taylor, 39, is listed as a "lobbyist" on Reid’s list of registered interests. According to his LinkedIn page, he works for the think tank Asia House.
'Severe consequences' warning
Earlier, security minister Dan Jarvis told MPs that the UK had raised the issue with China through diplomatic channels.
"If there is proven evidence of attempts by China to interfere with UK sovereign affairs, we will impose severe consequences and hold all actors involved to account," he said.
"We remain deeply concerned by an increasing pattern of covert activity from Chinese state-linked actors targeting UK democracy," Jarvis added.
The speaker of the House of Commons told MPs that Reid’s husband "did not have a pass to access the parliamentary estate".
Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5 warned in November that China was trying to "cultivate individuals" with access to information about parliament and the UK government.
Last year, legal proceedings against two men accused of spying for China, including a parliamentary researcher, collapsed, leading to a political dispute.
Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London at the Metropolitan Police, said the force had seen "a significant increase in our casework relating to national security in recent years".
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said "the government needs to stop being naive, grow a backbone and treat China as the threat we all know it is".
A spokesperson for China’s embassy in London said "some people in the UK are always keen to fabricate facts and concoct so-called 'espionage cases' to maliciously slander China".
"We urge the relevant British parties to immediately cease such anti-China political manipulation."
(With inputs from agencies)
