Exclusive: Three nations in €100m battle for new SailGP franchise Sport Business Three nations are locked in a €100m battle to join the SailGP grid as the sailing series expands to 14 teams, City AM can reveal. The fifth season of the competition concluded at the weekend in Abu Dhabi with British team Emirates GBR winning their first title. And the 12-team sailing competition will expand to [...]
Whitehall was ‘shambolic’ in dealing with collapsed China spy case Politics Whitehall officials presided over “shambolic” proceedings in the prosecution of two alleged Chinese spies, a report has suggested, with both government officials and prosecutors coming under fire over the collapse of the case. A report by parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy said the collapse of the prosecution against former parliamentary researcher Christopher [...]
Starmer calls for ‘sober realism’ in relations with China amid embassy row Politics Keir Starmer said the UK’s approach to relations with China should be guided by “sober realism” in a wide-ranging foreign policy speech at Guildhall in London. At the Lady Mayor’s Banquet, Starmer said the UK had to reject a “binary choice” in being too hawkish or dovish in relations with China. After weeks of diplomatic [...]
China threat policy questioned amid urgent MI5 warnings November 24, 2025 Despite MI5 sounding its most urgent alarm over Chinese intelligence activity in Westminster yet, the UK government has refused to label China a national security threat. According to new MI5 analysis circulated to MPs last week, Chinese state-linked operatives are running “relentless” influence and information-gathering operations across Whitehall, using LinkedIn to target parliamentary researchers, advisers, and [...]
PM set to formally approve new Chinese embassy November 21, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer is expected to give his formal seal of approval to a controversial new Chinese mega-embassy at Royal Mint Court, with the backing of the security services. According to a report in The Times, the approval is set to be a ‘formality’. The Home Office and Foreign Office – and, by extension, MI5 [...]
MI5 warned Whitehall China uses LinkedIn to spy on MPs November 18, 2025 MPs have been warned that China-linked agents are using LinkedIn and professional headhunters to target people working in parliament, triggering the most serious espionage alert issued to Westminster this year. Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Lords speaker Lord McFall circulated an MI5 warning on Tuesday, informing parliamentarians that Chinese state operatives were “relentless” in [...]
Santander: UK businesses shift away from China as tensions flare November 18, 2025 UK businesses are moving away from China as risks mount amid flaring geopolitical tensions. Over half of firms are taking steps to bring their supply chains closer to home, with one in five having already relocated their network closer to the UK. The moves come amid questions over China’s dominance in the supply chain, with [...]
Don’t let risk aversion undermine national security November 14, 2025 The government must be bold and reject the Chinese super embassy, says Mark Wheatley The best of our leaders have become increasingly demoralised; the worst of them seem irresponsible or addicted to dissembling and deceit. Our large corporations and ministries all too often seem purposeless; partial and immediate interest trumps longer gain. In the City, [...]
Ex-CEO faces trial for allegedly urging MPs to block Chinese-backed acquisition November 5, 2025 The High Court is set to hear a case over an allegation against a former interim CEO of an aerospace firm who is accused of secretly lobbying MPs and the UK government to sabotage a Chinese-backed deal. The case follows a national security review by the UK government into a deal that could have led [...]
Banned China tech firms lobbied for London embassy November 2, 2025 Chinese tech firms banned on national security grounds in both the UK and the United States lobbied for Beijing’s new embassy in London, growing fears it could be used as an overseas “spy centre”. State-controlled company ZTE Mobile, which was deemed by GCHQ to pose a risk to British telecommunications infrastructure that “cannot be mitigated”, [...]