As the Chinese spy scandal – and Labour’s involvement with the case being dropped – continues to unravel, Guido thought to remind co-conspirators that this isn’t an isolated incident. It’s part of a continuing pattern of Starmer and other top government figures growing ever closer to Beijing…
- While Foreign Secretary, David Lammy shook hands with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing. As Guido noted, Yi has outright denied China’s genocide against the Uyghurs, dismissing accusations as “ridiculously absurd” and “a complete lie.” He also sang Putin’s praises in 2024, applauding strengthening China-Russia ties…
- Starmer directly raised the issue of the Chinese mega-embassy during a meeting with Xi Jinping in Rio de Janeiro in November. He said: “You raised the Chinese embassy building in London when we spoke on the telephone. We have since taken action by calling in that application now we have to follow the legal process and timeline.” Despite White House warnings…
- Emma Reynolds replaced Tulip Siddiq as city minister in January (now she is at DEFRA). She was former Treasurer of the APPG for China, and had taken part in a campaign to lobby ministers to keep China off the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme’s “enhanced tier.” Eyebrows raised…
- Back in January, Reeves fled a gilt crisis in UK waters to go on a three-day vanity trip to China. She took Andrew Bailey and a raft of officials with her. Guido’s FOI unit discovered she racked up a £65,000 bill for that…
- Guido discovered Philippe Sands, Starmer’s close friend and Mauritius’ chief legal counsel on Chagos claimed China complies with 99.9% of international law. The Uyghurs would disagree…
- David Lammy and Yvette Cooper wrote to the Planning Inspectorate for England to support China’s planning application to build a mega-embassy in January. Overriding British security concerns…
- Lammy met Wang Yi again in February, this time in London. No press conference at that meeting…
- As Guido revealed, a Chinese diplomat offered “massive congratulations” to Starmer on the Chagos surrender deal, saying that China “fully supports” Mauritius in its “quest to safeguard national sovereignty.” Starmer claimed before and after this that China was against the deal. Untrue. The Chagos sellout is a major win for Beijing…
- Industry minister Sarah Jones refused to rule out another Chinese firm “co-partnering” with the state on management of British Steel. Despite claims of Chinese sabotage…
- In June, reports emerged that China offered to lift sanctions on UK parliamentarians. Iain Duncan Smith – who is sanctioned by China – told Guido it was a move to grease the wheels for the country’s London mega-embassy bid…
- David Lammy refused to publish the long-awaited ‘China Audit’. Lammy’s excuse was “national security” reasons…
- Labour left China off the top tier of the new foreign influence registration scheme system. Instead, it was put on the lower “political” tier which means only official lobbying on behalf of a foreign power will be publicly tracked. A joke…
- The case for espionage against two individuals collapsed. Starmer blames the Tories for not designating China a “threat”…
- The Sunday Times reported that National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell was at a Whitehall meeting, saying China would not be classed as an enemy in submitted evidence.
- The Crown Prosecution Service pointed the finger at No10 for the spy case collapsing. The Director of Public Prosecutions said Labour failed for more than a year to provide evidence that could have shown the accused spies were aligned to a hostile state. MI5 officials were also keen for the prosecution to go ahead, with Powell being accused of ‘blocking’ it…
- Guido revealed Jonathan Powell held a series of private meetings with figures close to and part of the Chinese Communist Party. One of which was held just last year…
- Guido exposed Powell’s extensive meetings with Chinese Communist officials. His recent links with Chinese state officials are through the UK-based charity Inter Mediate. Prompting questions over what bearing, if any, did any of this have on the decision to drop the prosecution…
- Guido also revealed that Jonathan Powell praised China’s “success” in “international mediation efforts” at a Peking lecture before becoming National Security Adviser.
The Golden Keir-A…
