China has been left off the top tier of the new foreign influence registration scheme system. A joke…
The system, called Firs, was introduced in the 2023 National Security Act and comes into effect today. Russia and Iran are on the top “enhanced” tier…
China has been put on the lower “political” tier which means only official lobbying on behalf of a foreign power will be publicly tracked. Pointless…
The Tories have been calling for China to be added. The long-awaited China audit from last week has been withheld by Labour as the party waits to approve a new mega-embassy for the country at the Royal Mint Court. Golden Keir-A in full effect…
UPDATE: Shadow home secretary Chris Philp says:
“Labour are splurging on energy projects that will push us into the arms of China, Rachel Reeves has been to Beijing with her economic begging bowl and now Angela Rayner looks set to approve a Chinese spy hub at the heart of our city. The Conservative government introduced measures to crack down on hostile states, then Labour quietly exempted one of the biggest of all. This government’s systematic kowtowing to China is shameful. We Conservatives will continue to keep the pressure on Labour, until they finally stop protecting Beijing and start protecting Britain.”
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”