MI5 warned UK Conservatives that two MP candidates might be Chinese spies
- Junior health minister Maria Caulfield said her party acted promptly to drop the would-be lawmakers from the list of potential election candidates
- Details of the MI5 intervention emerged days after reports that a UK parliamentary researcher has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing
Britain’s MI5 security service warned the ruling Conservative party that two would-be MPs could be Chinese spies, a minister said Wednesday.
Details of the advice, given in 2021 and 2022, comes days after it emerged a parliamentary researcher was arrested in March on suspicion of spying for Beijing.
Junior health minister Maria Caulfield said her party acted promptly to drop the two potential candidates for parliament after MI5’s intervention.
“I think whichever party is in government, there will always be those who are trying to target it, either to get information or to influence,” she told Times Radio.
In the case of the two possible candidates “who the Conservative Party were warned about, swift action was taken and they were removed from the list,” she added. “They are not standing for election.”