LONDON, Dec 22: Britain’s shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel on Sunday called for China to be placed high up on the list of countries that pose a national security risk to the UK.
The 52-year-old Indian-origin frontline member of the Opposition Conservative Party led by Kemi Badenoch pointed with concern to the recent scandal engulfing an alleged Chinese spy gaining access to Buckingham Palace circles through Prince Andrew – the younger brother of King Charles III.
She attacked the Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Cabinet for prioritising trade ties with China over national security.
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“It’s clearly complicated legislation, but China should always be up there,” Priti Patel told ‘The Sunday Times’ in an interview when asked if China should be placed on a proposed Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. The list is designed to compel all those working for overseas powers to declare their lobbying to avert any security risks.
“We’re dealing with an extraordinary regime that for over a decade, quite frankly, has had all sorts of incursions in our country through national security, intellectual property, right down to cyber activity and misinformation. During the COVID period, misinformation, disinformation, were absolutely significant. And then, of course, spies,” she said.
The former home secretary said she remained “sceptical” of the Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok and would want to consider joining the US in imposing a ban on it in Britain.
Patel also expressed concerns over a new so-called “super embassy” being planned by China at a site purchased near the Tower of London in 2018. While the proposal was rejected by the local Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 following objections from police and residents, the application has now been escalated for review by UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
“It fills me with absolute horror that Angela Rayner is in charge of making the decision. I think the country should be pretty worried about it too,” Patel told ‘The Sunday Times’.
“I’m just beyond concerned in terms of the direction of travel that Labour is choosing with China for a range of reasons, Hong Kong being one of them. Don’t forget Starmer met President Xi Jinping just hours before 45 pro-democracy activists were arrested and put in prison in Hong Kong,” she said, of Starmer’s meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil last month.
The pro-Brexit shadow minister also expressed concerns over the Labour government’s stance towards closer relations with the European Union (EU). As one of the early contenders to succeed Rishi Sunak as party leader following the disastrous general election result for the Tories in July, Patel told the newspaper that she feels “more motivated than ever” to put her “shoulder to the wheel” to help transform her party’s dismal electoral fortunes and put Badenoch on the path to power in time for the next polls in five years. (PTI)
