{"id":1667868,"date":"2026-03-07T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1667868"},"modified":"2026-03-07T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T20:30:00","slug":"british-lawmakers-husband-arrested-on-suspicion-of-spying-for-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/british-lawmakers-husband-arrested-on-suspicion-of-spying-for-china\/1667868\/","title":{"rendered":"British Lawmaker’s Husband Arrested On Suspicion Of Spying For China"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Lawmaker’s Husband Arrested On Suspicion Of Spying For China<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Weeks after China’s mega-embassy<\/a> opened in London (the one that’s right next to all of their tappable<\/a> communications cables), the husband of Labour Party whip Joani Reid\u00a0was arrested over Chinese espionage concerns<\/strong>, prompting the lawmaker to step aside amid ongoing probes.<\/p>\n

A member of the Metropolitan Police patrols the Oxford Street retail district in London on Oct. 2, 2025. Leon Neal\/Getty Images<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Reid’s membership in the party is now under suspension while she remains an elected lawmaker, as her husband, 39-year-old David Taylor,\u00a0was one of three men arrested on Wednesday<\/strong>\u00a0under the National Security Act. The men allegedly assisted a Chinese intelligence agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to Taylor,\u00a0former Labour Party press officer Matthew Aplin<\/strong> and former Welsh government special advisor Steve Jones<\/strong> were identified as the other two who were arrested.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the\u00a0Epoch Times<\/em>\u00a0notes further,\u00a0Reid stressed that she\u2019s not under investigation and that neither she nor her children are involved in her husband\u2019s business activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have done nothing wrong. I \u2060love \u200bmy country,\u201d she said in a statement, noting she has not seen anything to make her suspect her husband has \u201cbroken any law.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described the suspension as voluntary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week \u200bhas been \u200bthe worst \u2060of my life,<\/strong>\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chinese espionage concerns have grown in the country recently, with domestic intelligence agency MI5 warning<\/a> the country\u2019s politicians that they are targets of Chinese agents. On the same day of the trio\u2019s arrests, two other men\u2014a Hong Kong police superintendent and a UK border official\u2014went on trial on charges of spying on the Hong Kong diaspora in the country.<\/p>\n

The constituency offices of Joani Reid, the Scottish Labor MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, in East Kilbride, Scotland, on March 4, 2026. Jeff J Mitchell\/Getty Images<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Authorities on March 4 also raided the house of a veteran British journalist over the latest spying case.<\/p>\n

The journalist, Martin Shipton, described loud banging that woke him up early in the morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a piece for Nation.Cymru, a Welsh news service, Shipton recalled going on an all-expense-paid trip with Taylor to Hong Kong at Taylor\u2019s invitation. The trip happened about three years ago and lasted around a week, funded by a Chinese think tank that advised the top Chinese leader on international relations, he said. He emphasized that he was not under arrest and that he voluntarily gave a statement to the police about the trip.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the House of Commons chamber, UK Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis expressed alarm over \u201can increasing pattern of covert activity from Chinese state-linked actors targeting UK democracy,\u201d whether it be gathering intelligence on policymaking or active interference in governance.<\/p>\n

British officials have raised strong concerns with their Chinese counterparts in both London and Beijing, he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Multiple local lawmakers took the occasion to highlight security risks they saw with plans of a new, expanded Chinese embassy that their government greenlit<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese only represent strength, and for them everything is transactional,\u201d Conservative lawmaker Edward Leigh said.<\/p>\n

He called on the UK authorities to summon the Chinese ambassador over the \u201cintolerable\u201d actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot build this mega-embassy in just about the most sensitive site in London while you behave like this,<\/strong>\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the United States, Chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) echoed the view.<\/p>\n

He noted another Chinese spy trial in London last fall, which collapsed<\/a> before it began because the government failed to provide evidence that China represents a national security threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe British government\u2019s failure to properly prosecute alleged spies last fall, coupled with its approval of China\u2019s mega embassy, only emboldens the CCP\u2019s espionage activities in the UK,\u201d Moolenaar said.<\/p>\n

He urged the UK to rescind the Chinese mega embassy approval and prosecute the cases thoroughly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one of our closest security partners with access to American intelligence on China, the UK\u2019s commitment to protecting sensitive information must be beyond doubt,<\/strong>\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reid\u2019s office didn\u2019t respond to a query from The Epoch Times by publication time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSat, 03\/07\/2026 – 10:30<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/british-lawmakers-husband-arrested-suspicion-spying-china<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British Lawmaker’s Husband Arrested On Suspicion Of Spying For China Weeks after China’s mega-embassy opened in London (the one that’s right next to all of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1667869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1667868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1667868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667884,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667868\/revisions\/1667884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1667869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1667868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1667868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1667868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}