Following the bombshell revelation today that a suspected CCP spy has infiltrated Parliament and targeted Labour MP Barry Gardiner, Gardiner has now released a full statement claiming he has been “liaising with our Security Services for a number of years” regarding Christine Lee, and her son Daniel Wilkes – who worked for Gardiner – “wasn’t complicit” in his mother’s activities.

Gardiner says her son left his employment as diary manager just this morning, meaning he still had access to the parliamentary estate until hours ago, however claims the security services have “no intelligence that shows he was aware of, or complicit in, his mother’s illegal activity”. He promises to continue working with the security services…

“Today the Parliamentary Security Director issued a Security Service Interference Alert in relation to Christine Lee and her attempts to engage in political interference on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

I have been liaising with our Security Services for a number of years about Christine Lee and they have always known, and been made fully aware by me, of her engagement with my office and the donations she made to fund researchers in my office in the past. Steps were taken to ensure Christine Lee had no role in either the appointment or management of those researchers. They are also aware that I have not benefitted personally from those donations in any way. She ceased funding any workers in my office in June 2020.

All the donations were properly reported in the register of members’ interests and their source verified at the time. I have been assured by the Security Services that whilst they have definitively identified improper funding channelled through Christine Lee, this does not relate to any funding received by my office.

Christine Lee’s son volunteered in my office many years ago and was subsequently employed by me as a diary manager. He resigned from my employment earlier today. The Security Services have advised me that they have no intelligence that shows he was aware of, or complicit in, his mother’s illegal activity.

I will continue to work closely with our security services in this and all other matters that relate to the security of our country.

Barry Gardiner
Member of Parliament for Brent North”

Christine Lee was also the founder and co-chair of the British Chinese Project, which claimed to be a “non-partisan, voluntary organization seeking to raise the presence of the Chinese community in the British political arena”. She ran the group alongside her other son, Michael Wilkes. Research revealed that both Lee and Wilkes had previously congratulated Tory MP Alan Mak for his electoral victory in 2015 and the BCP referred to “our Chinese candidates”. Guido spoke to Mak – now a government whip – who said he had “never met [and] never spoke with [Lee]”, adding the BCP were a “bad bunch” who he’d “always stayed away from”. Fair to say this story is gripping SW1…