LONDON: UK police said Saturday they had arrested a man in his twenties for spying, with the Sunday Times reporting he was a researcher in Britain’s parliament suspected of working for China.
“Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested two men on 13 March on suspicion of offenses under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act, 1911,” said the force.
“A man in his 30s was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s was arrested at an address in Edinburgh.”
The Sunday Times said the suspect in his twenties had contacts with MPs from the ruling Conservative Party while working as a parliamentary researcher. They included Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee.
He is a Briton who has worked on international policy, including relations with Beijing, and previously worked in China, the paper added.
If proven, it would represent one of the most serious breaches of security involving a hostile state at the UK’s parliament.
Domestic intelligence service MI5 last year warned that a female Chinese government agent called Christine Lee had been “engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, engaging with members here at parliament.”
In July the Commons intelligence and security committee claimed that China was targeting the UK “prolifically and aggressively” and that the government did not have the “resources, expertise or knowledge” to deal with it.
Tugendhat is reported to have only had limited contact with the suspect, and none while security minister.
UK parliament researcher arrested for China spying: Report
https://arab.news/vsbhd
UK parliament researcher arrested for China spying: Report
- A man in his 30s was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s was arrested at an address in Edinburgh
- The Sunday Times said the suspect in his twenties had contacts with MPs from the ruling Conservative Party
Palestine Action hunger strikers launch legal action against UK govt
- They accuse authorities of abandoning prison safety policies
- Several of the imprisoned activists have been hospitalized
LONDON: Hunger strikers from Palestine Action in the UK have launched legal action against the government, accusing it of abandoning the policy framework for prison safety, The Independent reported.
A pre-action letter was sent to Justice Secretary David Lammy by a legal firm representing the activists.
It came as several imprisoned members of the banned organization — including one who has refused food for 51 days — were hospitalized due to their deteriorating health while on hunger strike.
They say they have sent several letters to Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, but have received no response.
He was urged in the latest letter to respond within 24 hours as the issue is a “matter of urgency.”
The letter added: “Our clients’ health continues to deteriorate, such that the risk of their dying increases every day.”
An “urgent meeting” is needed “with the proposed defendant to discuss the deterioration of our clients’ health and to discuss attempts to resolve the situation,” it said.
Seven of the Palestine Action prisoners have been admitted to hospital since the hunger strike was launched on Nov. 2, including 30-year-old Amu Gib and Kamran Ahmed, 28.
They are being held in prisons across the country. Two members of the group have been forced to end their hunger strike due to health conditions: Jon Cink, 25, ended on day 41, while 22-year-old Umer Khalid finished on day 13.
Gib, now on day 51, was hospitalized last week and reportedly needs a wheelchair due to health concerns.
Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician, warned journalists last Thursday that some of the imprisoned activists “are dying” and need specialized medical care.
In a letter signed by more than 800 doctors, Smith said the hunger strikers were at “very high risk of serious complications, including organ failure, irreversible neurological damage, cardiac arrhythmias and death.”
The strikers are demanding that Palestine Action, which is classified as a terrorist organization, be de-proscribed.
They are also urging the government to shut down defense companies with ties to Israel, among other demands.
In response to the latest letter, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We strongly refute these claims. We want these prisoners to accept support and get better, and we will not create perverse incentives that would encourage more people to put themselves at risk through hunger strikes.”
