Barry Gardiner has trousered another £77,000 from a law firm whose founder is linked to the Chinese regime, bringing the total he has accepted to over £380,000. Readers will remember how ‘Beijing Barry’ hit the headlines last year for taking huge sums in donations from Christine Lee & Co. Christine Lee describes herself as a “legal adviser to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the UK” and “legal adviser to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council” in China. Her son, Daniel Wilkes, works in Gardiner’s office as a parliamentary researcher. The register states Wilkes is “paid by Christine Lee & Co (solicitors) for the work I do in Parliament”…

Would young Dan have his parliamentary pass if mum wasn’t splashing the cash? Gardiner’s current brief concerns international trade with China. He was a vocal advocate of the Hinkley Point power station deal, which involved a Chinese state-backed firm. Both the donations and employing Christine Lee’s son are allowed under parliamentary rules. Which says more about the rules than anything else…