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Foreign Interference: Intelligence and Security
17 January 2022
Lead MP
Priti Patel
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
Crime & Law EnforcementEconomyDemocracy & ElectionsForeign AffairsStandards & Ethics
Other Contributors: 28
At a Glance
Priti Patel raised concerns about foreign interference: intelligence and security in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
Crime & Law EnforcementEconomyDemocracy & ElectionsForeign AffairsStandards & Ethics
Government Statement
Home Secretary Priti Patel has issued a statement on foreign interference in UK politics, expressing her utter appall at the recent activities of an individual who engaged in political interference on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. Patel highlighted that state threats to and malign influence on the UK are growing and diversifying as systematic competition intensifies. She mentioned specific incidents such as espionage, interference, sabotage, and physical threats to individuals. The Home Office has been collaborating closely with MI5, police, and the Crown Prosecution Service to address these issues. Following an alert from MI5, parliamentary authorities issued a warning to Members of Parliament (MPs) and peers about individuals involved in covert political donations from foreign nationals. Patel emphasised that such activities aim to influence the UK's political landscape to align with the Chinese agenda and suppress critics of their human rights policies. She affirmed that strong security structures are already in place, including new national security legislation and measures under the Elections Bill to prevent electoral fraud and foreign interference. Patel also stressed the collaboration with allies to safeguard democratic societies and protect stability, security, and prosperity.
Yvette Cooper
Lab
Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
Question
Cooper questioned whether the Home Secretary was complacent about threats to national security after mentioning that our system is working. She raised concerns over the implementation of recommendations from the Russia report and the Committee on Standards in Public Life, specifically regarding foreign money and digital campaign funding.
Minister reply
Patel acknowledged Cooper’s points but did not provide specific timelines for implementing recommendations from the Russia report or responding to the Committee's findings. She emphasised ongoing efforts to protect democracy through new legislation and collaboration with international partners.
Yvette Cooper
Lab
Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
Question
Cooper raised concerns about potential complacency regarding national security issues and questioned the Home Secretary on her plans to fully implement recommendations from the Russia report. She also inquired about the publication of consultation results and proposed new legislation to close loopholes for foreign donors hiding behind shell companies.
Minister reply
The Home Secretary responded by stating there is no complacency, highlighting that work has already begun on implementing recommendations from the Intelligence and Security Committee's Russia report. She outlined ongoing coordinated efforts across Government departments to address threats to democracy and stated that new legislation would be developed to interfere with activities of agents of influence and espionage agents.
Julian Lewis
Con
New Forest East
Question
Lewis asked about the areas where new national security legislation will interfere in activities of both agents of influence and espionage agents.
Minister reply
The Home Secretary addressed this by stating that the Government is developing legislation to close down permissive environments exploited for influence and espionage, including economic and commercial aspects.
Question
McDonald inquired about why the security alert was issued now despite ongoing activities and asked when national security legislation would be introduced. He also questioned whether criminal thresholds need to change and raised concerns about donations received by political parties from unincorporated associations.
Minister reply
The Home Secretary explained that specific work is taking place on developing new legislation, which will address issues such as changing laws related to criminal thresholds and closing loopholes for foreign money influencing UK elections.
Question
Buckland highlighted the need for Government action beyond legislative measures to stamp out subtle attempts at influence through passes, all-party groups funding, and vetting procedures.
Minister reply
The Home Secretary agreed with Buckland's point, emphasising that work is ongoing in conjunction with parliamentary security directorate on vetting and security procedures to ensure gaps exploited by those wishing to harm the UK are closed.
Diana R. Johnson
Lab
Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham
Question
The Home Secretary has been very robust in defending the Government’s response to the ISC’s report on Russia. In light of recent events, has she had an opportunity to review the clear recommendations in that report, particularly those pertaining to the Palace of Westminster and what we need to do?
Minister reply
First, let me welcome the new Chair of the Select Committee and congratulate her on her election. There is no question—I should be very clear about this—but that we learn all the time about gaps and about not just new threats, but the type of tactics and techniques used by those who want to do us harm. It is right that we review absolutely every facet of security here.
Chingford and Woodford Green
Question
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement. Of course it is shocking that any Member of this House should allow themselves to be used by a foreign power, but one problem we have is that this issue is not suddenly emerging. We have now a real problem with China. There are more than 13 organisations hell-bent on such purposes, hiding in public view, working with the United Front and other organisations to report back to China. Does she not think, as I do, that it is time to change our position and call China the threat that it really is to us?
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend speaks a great deal of sense on this issue. He has highlighted and spoken clearly about the direct threat, which we have seen, in this House alone, when it comes to undermining our democracy.
Barry Gardiner
Lab
Brent West
Question
Through you, Mr Speaker, may I please thank Members from all across the House for the kind messages that I have received over the past few days? I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement and the work of the security services in protecting Parliament. Will the measures she has announced help MPs to get extra support when making the required checks about the true source of any donations?
Minister reply
First, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will continue to work with the intelligence and security services and co-operate with them at the highest level with regards to the alert that has been published and also to the areas that he has referred to.
Thomas Tugendhat
Con
Tonbridge
Question
It is a great pleasure to hear my right hon. Friend’s statement today. The work she has done on defending this country from foreign interference, and on protecting British nationals under threat of Chinese state propaganda and influence, has been impressive. May I ask what more we are going to do to ensure that this dirty money does not come into our community?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend knows my views on the whole area of foreign agent registration. This is not shining a spotlight any more; this is putting the full beam of transparency on to the dirty money that comes into our country.
Chris Bryant
Lab
Rhondda and Ogmore
Question
I completely agree with the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith). We have to have our eyes wide open about the possible infiltration of British politics by Iranians, Russians and from China. The Government should indeed be sanctioning Chen Quanguo, Zhu Hailun, Zhu Changjie, Huo Liujun and, for that matter, Carrie Lam. However, my biggest anxiety is that we have been saying for a long time—ever since the Home Secretary was on the Foreign Affairs Committee with us—that we need to ensure it is illegal to act as a foreign agent in this country.
Minister reply
The hon. Gentleman makes his point very powerfully; no question about that. He knows the work that I am trying to push forward, and the need to bring forward the legislation.
Question
I declare an interest as someone who has been banned, not bunged, by the Chinese Government. Mr Speaker, you boldly and rightly banned the Chinese ambassador from coming to the Palace of Westminster when seven parliamentarians and our families were sanctioned by China. Does the Home Secretary agree it will be right that anybody determined to be an agent of influence, or people close to them, have no place coming to this place or any Government Department?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend articulates very clearly the extent to which, across the board both here and in the diaspora, we have been experiencing intimidation and harassment.
Sarah Owen
Lab
Luton North
Question
I thank the Home Secretary for her statement. It is truly sickening that anyone would attempt to infiltrate our Parliament, circumventing the security of this place and even of Prime Ministers. I am also deeply concerned that, following a massive spike in racist attacks levelled at east and south-east Asians during the pandemic over the last two years, this serious incident may cause an entire community and ethnicity to become targets for abuse yet again.
Minister reply
I thank the hon. Lady for making that important and powerful point. Of course racism and racist abuse against any community is abhorrent, and we have to work to stamp it out.
Question
The granting of a parliamentary pass is a real privilege, and I think that all of us should take responsibility by helping the House authorities and the Security Service when we are looking at people for our own offices. May I suggest from my previous experience in the military that one way of doing that is to make each and every one of us sit down with anyone who wants a pass or who comes into our office and jointly go through a detailed form, with very detailed questions, and jointly sign it?
Minister reply
I return to my earlier comments about vetting and the support that is currently in place. We can work together to close down any issues of concern.
Kevan Jones
Lab
Durham
Question
In her statement, the Home Secretary said it was a fact that this kind of activity has become more apparent, but the United Front Work Department has been in existence since 1949, it has a budget of £3 billion a year, and for many years it has used useful fools to propagandise its arguments. May I ask the Home Secretary about universities in particular? There is evidence, certainly from Australia and other countries where tough action has been taken, that the Confucius Institutes are backed by money from the United Front Work Department. Is it not about time we closed them down, and is she content that the Department for Education is responsible for monitoring this?
Minister reply
The right hon. Gentleman referred first to the prevalence of the activity that we are seeing. Yes, there is more activity, for a number of reasons. Technology changes, these threats evolve and develop with time, and tradecraft adapts and evolves as well. That brings me to his second point, which was about our academic institutions. This is the subject of an ongoing discussion. I have been in many committees where it has been raised, including the ISC, and it is being discussed across Government. He asks whether the Department for Education is doing enough. We have spent a great deal of time working with the Department. Let me say something about the legislation that we want to introduce. We are learning from other countries, such as Australia—indeed, I had a bilateral meeting just last week. This is also part of the work of Five Eyes. A lot of work is being done to look at the institutional impacts of hostile state activity, alongside issues such as foreign agent registration. We want to get this right through future legislation, and that is what we are working on.
Richard Graham
Con
Gloucester
Question
This is a really important issue, and one that has lessons for all parliamentarians and all political parties. It seems to me that the crucial issue, as the Home Secretary has highlighted, is the whole business of foreign donations and cash being used for inducements. That is the main reason why, during the 10 years in which I have chaired the all-party parliamentary China group, all our sponsors have been British organisations. Does she agree, first, that we need to get a grip of the whole issue of foreign donations, wherever they come from, because third-party countries can be used as well? Secondly, does she agree that the Committee on Standards needs to look more closely at whether any individual parliamentarian needs to be investigated? Thirdly, does she agree that while of course we must rise to the systematic challenge of China that was raised in the integrated review, we do not wish to avoid any engagement with a nation that is a fellow permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and with which we have much important business to do?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend makes a number of points. In relation to the House, standards and transparency, there are already measures in place, as we know, and greater work will take place, as I have said. Obviously we will support all aspects of Parliament to ensure that when more work can be undertaken on transparency, it will indeed be undertaken. When it comes to China’s role in the world, in multilateral institutions and organisations, and our own values versus the type of values that the Chinese Government are proposing around the world, I think it is fair to say that there are many difficult issues. The House recognises that, as do I as Home Secretary and the entire Government.
Alistair Carmichael
Lib Dem
Orkney and Shetland
Question
I remind the House that I serve as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary groups on Uyghurs and on Hong Kong, and that I am a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which is chaired by the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith). I heard what the Home Secretary said about the implementation of the ICS’s Russia report. I hope that there will now be a bit more urgency in the implementation of its recommendations, not least because we expect the publication of the Committee’s China report before too long. May I also say to the Home Secretary that if this is to be done effectively and the House and indeed this Parliament can then present a united front to the outside world, she should now be working with all parties across the House to build the consensus necessary to implement those recommendations?
Minister reply
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his comments. On issues such as national security and intelligence co-operation, he is privy to much of our work and will understand the approach that we take. When it comes to legislation that is under development, we know that there are just so many aspects on which we need to legislate. I have already touched on criminal thresholds and the changing nature of the threats. We are also looking at schemes that are already running in other countries—jurisdictions overseas—to see how we can apply them to our own jurisdiction. It takes time to work through them, but I give the House every assurance that we will work in a collaborative way on these measures.
Bob Seely
Con
Isle of Wight
Question
Two years ago, I wrote a paper on how to bring in a foreign lobbying law into the UK—the Security Minister has a copy of that. With great respect to the Home Secretary, I think that these scandals will just carry on, as they have been doing ever since I came to this place, until we update our espionage laws, until we update our domestic lobbying laws, and until we bring in a foreign lobbying law. The Australians and the Americans—examples I looked at in the paper—have robust laws that cover banking, finance, law, politics and information. We need such laws, because otherwise these scandals will just keep on coming, as sure as eggs is eggs.
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has also just touched on the wide-ranging nature of threats. That covers, as I have said, institutions, finance and all aspects of direct harm to individuals. As he will know, there is a great deal of work taking place on the economic and financial front. I know that he and the Security Minister discussed much of that as well. Let me assure him that, through the work that we are undertaking—he is welcome to have further meetings with us on this—he will see the way in which we are pulling these strands together and, importantly, learning from some of the other countries to which he has referred, including in his own report. We are looking to create similar schemes, but obviously within our legal framework and within the lawful way in which we can implement them.
Stephen Kinnock
Lab
Aberavon
Question
The Chinese state holds a 33% stake in Hinkley Point, a 10% stake in Heathrow airport, and a 9% stake in Thames Water. Moreover, a number of the UK’s top universities have ties with Chinese military-linked research centres. For more than 18 months now, Labour Front Benchers have been calling on the Government to undertake a comprehensive audit of every aspect of the UK-China relationship, so that our businesses, universities and public figures are aware of the risks and the threats to our national security. Will the Home Secretary now agree to get this audit underway as a matter of the utmost urgency?
Minister reply
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, and indeed for setting out the context of the question. He highlights the extent to which China has been investing in the United Kingdom across our utilities, various aspects of business, our institutions and academia, as we touched on earlier. The National Security and Investment Act 2021 is a response to many of the things that have taken place, predating many of us in office and some aspects of this Government as well. We must not only constantly keep a watching eye, but review and look at the investments that are coming into the United Kingdom. That work is taking place across the whole of Government.
Nusrat Ghani
Con
Sussex Weald
Question
I thank my right hon. Friend for her statement. The word “covert” has been used quite a bit, but the Chinese Communist party is acting in plain sight. It is threatening the House and it is threatening MPs, and then it sanctions MPs who expose what it is up to. My question to my right hon. Friend is this: where is the organising force of this Government? I respectfully say the same to the Speaker: where is the organising force for this House in defending our democracy and also ensuring that we are not complicit in genocide? What support is being provided to parliamentarians who have been sanctioned, and to those individuals who gave evidence to the Business, Energy and Industrial Committee, especially the World Uyghur Congress, which feels threatened in this country? Why are we not blacklisting firms that are selling our data to the Chinese Communist party and selling us products made by Uyghur slave labour? Finally, will she do everything she can to get the individuals who run those prison camps in Xinjiang sanctioned—in particular, Chen Quanguo?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend not just for her question but for her commitment and the work that she has been leading on. I thank all parliamentarians who have been so vocal on many of the abuses that have been well rehearsed and debated in this House. On the support for parliamentarians who have been sanctioned, which is a really important point, that is where the House needs to be strong, and we are coming together with the parliamentary authorities to ensure that measures are put in place. She asked where is the might in Government. When it comes to defending democracy—as she will know, because she will have had discussions with my colleagues at the Cabinet Office as well—we lead on this, and, with other Departments, absolutely work in an aligned way on the specific details.
Chi Onwurah
Lab
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
Question
Our relationship with China has evolved from the 'golden decade'. Members have raised issues such as political interference, university research technology transfer, human rights, and investment in this country. Will the Secretary of State commit to an audit of UK-China relations?
Minister reply
A raft of work is taking place on China through the integrated review, new legislation will come forward, and intelligence agencies inform Government Departments regarding approaches to China.
Alicia Kearns
Con
Rutland and Stamford
Question
The Chinese Government's actions towards Members of this House are unforgivable. Will my right hon Friend meet me to discuss how we could put in place protection for MPs and British nationals when hostile Interpol red notices are placed on them?
Minister reply
I will be happy to meet the Hon Member regarding the legislation under development which aims to protect MPs and all British nationals from such issues.
Clive Efford
Lab
Eltham
Question
There is an opportunity to deal with foreign influences by closing loopholes that allow shell companies to hide resources. Why are the Government not supporting this move?
Minister reply
Work is underway in looking at this area, and Security Minister is working with Treasury colleagues on it.
Question
What action will the Government take to work with UK businesses and universities to protect their data, research, and intellectual property from theft by foreign Governments?
Minister reply
Much of that work is under way through the National Cyber Security Centre which provides alerts and direct engagement with those institutions.
Cat Smith
Lab
Lancaster and Wyre
Question
The Elections Bill should not create new loopholes for foreign interference in British politics, especially as it allows millions more citizens overseas to donate to British politics. Does the Bill make us more or less safe?
Minister reply
It is important that the Elections Bill covers protecting democracy and electoral reform. Work on this aspect will be covered by Cabinet Office Ministers.
Question
Individual parliamentarians received eye-watering sums from Christine Lee's organisations, should those individuals pay back these sums to a charity connected to human rights in China?
Minister reply
Anyone who has been in contact with the individual or received anything from them is advised to co-operate fully with intelligence and security services.
Question
Hendon Labour party received £6,500 in donations from representatives connected to Christine Lee's organisation. The need for an audit of what has gone on in our political system and civic society is necessary.
Minister reply
My hon Friend makes a valid point regarding the impact of foreign influences in politics.
Question
Individuals seeking to undermine democracy by donating large sums need to face action. Are we going to nick ‘em, lock ‘em up and charge them?
Minister reply
A review of criminal thresholds will take place because action against individuals who undermine our democracy is necessary.
Shadow Comment
Yvette Cooper
Shadow Comment
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked Priti Patel for her statement on foreign interference in UK politics. She expressed deep concern over recent attempts by China to interfere in Britain’s democratic process but noted that further questions remain regarding the extent of deception and ongoing risks from foreign states. Cooper highlighted specific warnings about Russian and Chinese interference, citing concerns raised by Lord Jonathan Evans and the need for full implementation of the Russia report's recommendations as well as responses to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s findings. She urged Patel not to be complacent and requested timelines for implementing these measures fully. Additionally, Cooper raised an amendment to the Elections Bill aiming to close loopholes allowing foreign donors to hide behind shell companies.
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