Max Wilkinson

Mr Speaker, I know you take the safety of Members of this House very seriously. These revelations are deeply alarming and reflect yet another attack on our liberal democracy. As MPs, we know that our parliamentary staff receive regular reminders to be vigilant against the CCP and its efforts to gain sensitive information. We receive those as MPs, yet we are told that the Home Office has not taken proactive steps to inform the Members concerned in this case. I do not think the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), who asked the urgent question, got the response he possibly deserves, so I will try again. When were Ministers first aware and when were officials first aware of the information that was reported in the Daily Mail this weekend? Will the Minister commit today to reviewing the process, so that Members are told promptly whenever the Government learn that their personal information is compromised, particularly when it is done by a hostile foreign power? Recent reports have revealed what the Financial Times has described as a “chronic shortage of China expertise” in the British state, both in the FCDO and in MI6. Meanwhile, the US has built a dedicated China office. Will the Minister set out a plan to rebuild our China expertise urgently, and will he consider adding China to the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme, as the Joint Committee on Human Rights has recommended?