Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world
Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email
Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has threatened to name the Chinese spy who was revealed to have links with Prince Andrew, amid reports he also met two former prime ministers.
Mr Farage says the party may use parliamentary privilege – which provides legal immunity for MPs in cases such as this – to reveal the name of the businessman in the House of Commons.
The alleged spy, known as H6, has been described in court as having formed an “unusual degree of trust” with Prince Andrew and has been banned from entering the UK since 2023.
The Home Office, led at the time by Suella Braverman, said the spy had engaged in “covert and deceptive activity” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.
It comes following a Sunday Times report that H6 also met David Cameron at a Downing Street reception and Theresa May at a black-tie event, keeping photos of both encounters, which took place over the last 15 years, in his London office. It is unclear whether the meetings took place while either was in office.
On Thursday, a specialist tribunal in London found that Ms Braverman was “entitled to conclude” that H6 was a “risk to national security”.
Mr Farage told the Mail on Sunday that H6 should be “named immediately”, saying that a failure to do so “smacks of an establishment cover up”. He added: “If it’s not resolved in the courts, he should be named in the Commons. It’s clearly in the national interest.”
Labour MP Graham Stringer told the paper that it was “ludicrous” for H6 to remain anonymous “in the country he was allegedly spying on”.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith is believed to be seeking a Commons debate on H6’s alleged activities, despite the parliamentary convention that MPs avoid discussing the affairs of senior members of the royal family. Sir Iain told the Mail on Sunday that parliament has a “right to know” because the Royals are at the top of the government.
In this debate, MPs would be protected if they were to reveal the identity of H6. Parliamentary privilege prevents MPs from being chased with legal action and has previously been used to publicise information which is subject to a court order banning its publication.
But parliamentarians can’t discuss active court cases in order to avoid the possibility of influencing legal outcomes.
Sir Iain, one of the UK’s most prominent China hawks, said on Saturday: “Prince Andrew needs to be clear and honest. He has made a mistake, he was in a vulnerable period at the time. But now he needs to be properly open about what happened. There needs to be a full, proper investigation by the security services.
“Get ready for project kowtow on steroids. The UK government crawling on their bellies in obedience. The government doesn’t want to upset China because they’re ‘so desperate’ over the economy.”
The Chinese businessman brought a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) after he was expelled from the UK. The appeal was dismissed on Thursday, but the alleged spy has been granted an interim anonymity order protecting his identity.
The tribunal was told that H6 had been invited to Andrew’s birthday party in 2020, and an adviser to the duke had said he could act on his behalf in dealing with potential investors in China.
A letter from Dominic Hampshire, the adviser, was found on H6’s computer. As well as referencing the birthday party, it said: “I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family.
“You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship… Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.”
A statement from Prince Andrew’s office said: “The Duke of York followed advice from His Majesty’s government and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised.
“The duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed.”
Source: independent.co.uk
