Keir Starmer has touched down in China for a two-day visit that will include a chat with leader Xi Jinping and plenty of business discussion.
But there’s no getting away from the fact that the trip is taking place amid rising tensions over the threat to the UK from sophisticated Chinese espionage.
Just two months ago, MI5 warned MPs and peers that Chinese intelligence officers were trying to recruit people in parliament with access to sensitive information.
And Beijing’s proposed new embassy in London – now given the green light by the government – has been steeped in controversy over its proximity to vital telecommunications cables.
Former security minister Tom Tugendhat claimed yesterday that concerns over security even dictated the government’s choice of transport for the trip.
The Conservative MP wrote in a post on X: ‘Starmer’s circus aren’t just taking burner phones to China to beat spying, they’re taking a burner plane!
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‘The government jet is staying home because it would need to be guarded round the clock to stop China putting bugs on it – so they’ve hired a plane!’
He repeated the claim in an appearance on Sky News this morning. But is it true?
It’s certainly accurate to say the Prime Minister’s team is taking extensive precautions to keep security tight on the visit.
Journalists in the press pack have reported Sir Keir himself is among the officials using a burner phone while in China, with some of them resorting to using a notepad and pen in the absence of tech.
But a government source told Metro the decision to take a British Airways jet was simply down to the size of the delegation going along.
Nearly 60 business and cultural leaders are joining the PM for the trip, along with dozens of journalists, and it would be a tight squeeze to get them on the official government plane.
A similar arrangement, also with BA, was made when 125 business leaders joined an official visit to India last October.
The airline’s Chief Commercial Officer Colm Lacy is among the figures in the delegation.
Sir Keir has argued a ‘a strategic and consistent relationship’ with China is ‘firmly in our national interest’ despite questions over the threat of espionage.
He said: ‘That does not mean turning a blind eye to the challenges they pose – but engaging even where we disagree.’
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