The deputy prime minister’s statement on cybersecurity and China-backed attempts to undermine UK democracy had been briefed far enough in advance that MPs had had time to sharpen their insults. Iain Duncan Smith said Oliver Dowden’s announcement was like watching an elephant giving birth to a mouse. The SNP member Stuart C McDonald accused Dowden of taking a wooden spoon to a gunfight. Labour’s Chris Bryant called him “wilfully blind, and therefore dangerous”. The inattentive observer might come away from the statement unclear on who posed the greater threat to…
Tag: Politics
Labour tells China it will act on interference in UK democracy
Labour has warned China that it will respond to any interference in UK democracy after the government announced fresh sanctions against hackers linked to Beijing. The warning came at the party’s first public meeting with the Chinese government since Keir Starmer became Labour leader. Catherine West, the shadow Asia minister, travelled to Beijing last week as part of a delegation of British MPs for meetings with senior Chinese government figures and businesses. On Thursday and Friday, West attended meetings with Wang Huning, one of Xi Jinping’s appointees to China’s powerful…
Chinese hackers targeted Electoral Commission and politicians, say security services
Chinese state-backed hackers were responsible for two malicious digital campaigns targeting the UK’s democratic institutions and politicians, the security services have found. The UK holds China responsible for a prolonged cyber-attack on the Electoral Commission during which Beijing allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, also found that four British parliamentarians who have been critical of Beijing were targeted in a separate attack, although the activity was identified before any systems were compromised. Two individuals and a front company…
Government urged to end its ‘naivety on China’ as Dowden to brief MPs on Beijing’s role in cyber-attacks – UK politics live
From 45m ago Government urged to end its ‘naivety on China’ as Dowden to brief MPs on Beijing’s role in cyber-attacks Good morning. Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer are both far away from Westminster this morning. Sunak is in Barrow-in-Furness, promoting a £200m investment in nuclear submarines, and Starmer is on Anglesey, promoting Labour’s plans for offshore wind. In London it looks as if the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, will be grabbing the headlines. He is making a statement to MPs about Chinese cyber-attacks on the UK and, as…
UK ‘slow to hold China to account’ for cyber-attacks against MPs and voters
The UK government has been too slow to respond to cyber-attacks by China, the head of an international group of parliamentarians focusing on the issue has said, ahead of expected new British sanctions against Beijing. Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, is expected to announce the sanctions in the Commons on Monday, after what the UK says have been cyber-attacks against MPs and peers, as well as one targeting the Electoral Commission in which Beijing allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. Three MPs and a peer…
Details of millions of UK voters accessed by Chinese state, ministers will say
The personal details of millions of voters are believed to have been accessed in an attack by China on Britain’s democratic process, ministers will say. MPs and peers are thought to be among 43 people who the government looks set to confirm have been targeted by cyber-attacks backed by the Chinese state. The UK could impose sanctions on individuals believed to be involved in these acts of state-backed interference, one of which was a separate attack on the Electoral Commission in which Beijing accessed the personal details of about 40…
David Cameron to have first meeting with Chinese foreign minister
David Cameron is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this weekend for the first time since becoming British foreign secretary. The Foreign Office has pencilled in a meeting between Cameron and Wang at the Munich security conference, according to two government sources. It would be the first time Cameron has met a Chinese minister since his surprise appointment to Rishi Sunak’s cabinet in November last year. Cameron has come under pressure over his links to China since becoming foreign secretary, and he faces calls to raise human rights…
The Guardian view on the digital pound: an impetuous idea with a risky momentum of its own | Editorial
Two years ago, the House of Lords looked into whether the Bank of England should issue digital pounds to be held in electronic wallets. Peers were unconvinced, asking if this wasn’t “a solution in search of a problem”. Last December, MPs on the Treasury select committee said the same thing. The government’s response, however, was to tell the public to prepare for a “Britcoin” to be in use by the end of the decade. Physical money has been around for thousands of years for good reason. Cash is convenient, reliable and…
Reports PM privately thinks Rwanda plan won’t work are why costs must be published, Yvette Cooper says – UK politics live
From 30m ago Yvette Cooper says reports saying Sunak privately thinks Rwanda plan won’t work show why full costs must be published In the Commons MPs have just voted on the Labour motion criticising the government’s record on dentistry. It was defeated. Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, is opening the next debate on the “humble address” motion that, if passed, would oblige the government to publish confidential documents about the cost of the Rwanda programme. The text of the motion is here. Cooper says it is particularly important for…
Taiwan braces for ‘big deal’ presidential election as China’s shadow looms
Deep in the mountains of Hsinchu county in north Taiwan, a few dozen residents of Smangus are holding their daily morning meeting in a weatherboard hut, overlooking the towering peaks nearby. The remote Indigenous village, home to about 200 Atayal people, is preparing for Saturday’s presidential election. They take it very seriously, running their own polling station since 2008, and discussing candidates with all the residents. “We normally don’t talk about politics [at the meeting] but the presidential election is a big deal,” says Lahuy Icyeh, a community leader. “The…