Three former Labour advisers, including the husband of an MP, have been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
David Taylor, who is married to the Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid, is accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service.
Taylor, 39, and two other men, aged 43 and 68, were arrested by counter-terrorism officers at addresses in London and Wales on Wednesday. Police said on Thursday they had been released on bail until May.
Taylor was a former special adviser to the Labour peer Peter Hain when he was the secretary of state for Wales, and has since been a lobbyist with a company called Earthcott. He is widely connected within the Labour party and Earthcott is listed as a supporter of a Labour business group, SME4Labour.
After her husband’s arrest, Reid, the MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, who is a member of the home affairs committee, said: “I have never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law. I am not part of my husband’s business activities and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation, and we should not be treated by media organisations as though we are. Above all, I expect media organisations to respect my children’s privacy.”
She added: “I have never been to China. I have never spoken on China or China-related matters in the Commons. I have never asked a question on China-related matters. As far as I am aware I have never met any Chinese businesses whilst I have been an MP, any Chinese diplomats or government employees, nor raised any concern with ministers or anyone else on behalf of, even coincidentally, Chinese interests.”
The arrests come six months after the Crown Prosecution Service decided to drop charges against two men accused of spying for China, one of whom was a parliamentary aide who had worked with two Tory MPs. The two men had been due to go on trial but the case collapsed.
Since then, Keir Starmer has come under pressure over his decision to visit China and attempt to improve relations despite ministers and the security establishment saying they were “gravely concerned” about the threat from Chinese espionage. The prime minister has also been criticised for allowing plans for a Chinese “mega embassy” near the City of London to go ahead, saying security concerns had been addressed.