Spying allegations ‘make a mockery’ of UK’s ‘pathetic’ position on China

Iain Duncan Smith says accusations of Chinese spying are not surprising – but “make a mockery of [the government’s] position”.

The former Tory leader has hit out at Labour, calling their position on China “pathetic”.

He tells Sky News Politics Hub with Darren McCaffrey: “[China have] already been accused of spying in Parliament. That case collapsed because the government could not say that they, China, was a continuing threat to national security.  

“And that’s ridiculous, because two weeks after the collapse of that case, what happens? They’re back here today telling us that China has been threatening us because of its spying attempts, again. They’re still spying on us. And that makes it a mockery of their position.”

‘You don’t do a trade-off between trade and national security’

He also says that China poses a threat to the UK’s manufacturing industry, to its security and to the safety of MPs – but accuses the government of not acknowledging this.

The former Tory leader explains: “Then when I asked him [the security minister, Dan Jarvis], ‘well, does China pose a continuing threat to British national security?’ And he wouldn’t answer the question, because what they won’t do is say that China is an overall threat to our national interests, because they’re so desperate to get some strange trade arrangement with the Chinese government. 

“It’s pathetic really.”

Challenged that this is the same position that the Conservatives held when they were in power, he disagrees.

He insists that the Tories were “about to put China in the upper tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme”, which Labour is not intending to do.

“The fact is, you don’t do a trade-off between trade and national security,” he says.

“National security is supreme. It’s the one reason you elect governments.”