China threat policy questioned amid urgent MI5 warnings Politics 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 [...]
MI5 warned Whitehall China uses LinkedIn to spy on MPs Politics 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 [...]
China spying case collapse leads to ‘interference’ accusations Politics Senior officials have pointed fingers at the Labour government over the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to drop the espionage case against two men accused of spying for China. Senior UK government figures told the Financial Times that the government fatally undermined the Chinese spying case in order to protect the UK’s commercial and [...]
Knives are out in Whitehall after Chinese espionage case collapsed September 17, 2025 Whitehall is seething with anger following the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) decision to drop its espionage case against two men accused of spying for China. Christopher Cash (30), a former parliamentary researcher and director of the China Research Group, and Christopher Berry (33), a former English teacher in China, were charged last year with providing [...]
Starmer’s diplomacy downplays “epic scale” of Chinese spying December 17, 2024 Yang Tengbo insists that he is not a spy and that he would “never do anything to harm the interests of the UK.” He was speaking yesterday after instructing his legal team to disclose his identity following the “high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere.” Much of that reporting focused on [...]
BP paid ex-MI6 agents to snoop on peaceful climate campaigner October 24, 2021 BP has hired a private intelligence company set up by former MI6 agents to spy on a peaceful climate activist, according to a joint investigation from The Sunday Times and OpenDemocracy. The oil and gas giant has been using the intelligence firm to monitor a man who has highlighted its investment in fossil fuels. Chris [...]
US spy couple accused of selling nuclear secrets October 11, 2021 US nuclear engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana were arrested on espionage-related charges on Saturday, announced the US Department of Justice. The couple, who was apprehended by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, stands accused of selling restricted data regarding the design of nuclear-powered warships. The Toebbes will appear in a West [...]
Germany detains British man suspected of spying for Russia August 11, 2021 British police have confirmed that a 57-year-old British national has been arrested by German authorities on suspicion of his involvement in “intelligence agent activity” with Russia. It comes after German prosecutors announced that they had detained the British citizen on Tuesday in Potsdam on suspicion of spying for Russia while working at the British Embassy [...]