Lord Morrow (DUP)

My Lords, I too welcome the noble Lord, Lord Isaac, to your Lordships’ House and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, on his comprehensive and informative opening speech and the excellent report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights under his chairmanship. It is fair to say that, on these sorts of issues, he stands head and shoulders above the rest of us, and I thoroughly congratulate him. The committee obviously knew what it was doing when it appointed him as chairman. I cannot think of anybody better, and that is no reflection on others. As the noble Lord and the Joint Committee’s report have made clear, transnational repression is about many other state actors besides China, notably Russia, Iran and North Korea, but also Pakistan, India, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Some of these present recognised threats to our security and geopolitical challenges, while others are among the countries we may consider important trading partners and, at times, strategic allies. Nevertheless, as the JCHR states: “China conducts the most comprehensive TNR campaign of any foreign state operating in the UK”. This is consistent with the finding of the Intelligence and Security Committee report in 2023 that China had penetrated “every sector” of the United Kingdom and poses a “whole of state” challenge. Given the findings of these two important reports, three years apart, can the Minister explain to your Lordships’ House how His Majesty’s Government’s new rapprochement with China addresses these concerns? What priority did the Prime Minister place on addressing China’s transnational repression, influence and espionage campaigns in the UK in his discussions during his recent visit to China? What steps are the Government taking to ensure that China’s new recently approved mega-embassy—if it goes ahead, as it is now subject to judicial review—will not serve as a hub for transnational repression and espionage as many of us fear it will? The noble Lord, Lord Alton, referred to evidence provided by Hong Kong activist Chloe Cheung, examples of transnational repression faced by other Hong Kongers now in exile in the UK, such as Carmen Lau, and the effects this has had on their safety and mental and physical well-being, and the threats made to Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, head of Jimmy Lai’s international legal team. I am also aware of threats made to British citizens such as Benedict Rogers, co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, who has faced numerous anonymous threatening letters to himself, his neighbours and his mother, been named more than 95 times in the trial of Jimmy Lai and received threats of a prison sentence. Similarly, Luke de Pulford, co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, has been the target of such threats. When Hong Kongers who have fled Hong Kong to escape repression and sought refuge in the United Kingdom in the expectation of freedom and security are pursued by the long arms of the Chinese Communist Party, and when the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party reach into the letterboxes and email inboxes of British citizens who happen to be its critics, what are His Majesty’s Government doing in response? What are the Government, who have a duty to protect their citizens and keep us safe, doing to ensure the safety of our citizens and those whom we have rightly welcomed into this country as a pathway towards citizenship? Is there a dedicated police hotline? What efforts are the police and our intelligence agencies making to brief and advise those who are being threatened? I look forward to the Minister’s response.