B

Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 13 October 2025

Debate

Chinese Espionage: Parliament

Contribution

I very much thank my noble friend for his question. Let me be clear about some of the interesting comments in terms of where the Opposition have been. When he was Foreign Secretary, the right honourable James Cleverly, MP, who I have a huge amount of time for, called the decision to sum up China in one word as a “threat” as “impossible, impractical and—most importantly—unwise”. Most importantly for your Lordships’ House, the Leader of the Opposition, when Business Secretary, said that we “should not be describing China as a foe”. When in government, the Opposition had some interesting views on China; so did some of their Ministers. On that basis, I think we need to be very clear about what we are talking about.

More from Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

Partner sites