Alleged Chinese spy ‘tip of iceberg’, says Iain Duncan Smith

Alleged spy H6 was stopped and questioned by UK border police officers in November 2021, when he also surrendered a number of electronic devices including a mobile phone.

In March 2023, H6 was banned entry into the UK by the then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

He then brought his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a court set up to consider appeals against decisions to ban or remove someone from the country on national security or related grounds. In the published ruling, external, the judges upheld Braverman’s decision.

H6 has met with many senior figures in the UK, including former Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May, and Prince Andrew, to whom he was described as a “close confidant”.

But Sir Iain said the bigger issue of H6 and Prince Andrew is how China’s well-funded attempts to make contact with influential individuals has been happening in “plain view”.

“The reality is that there are many many more involved in exactly this kind of espionage that’s taking place.”

H6 is not allowed to be named under an anonymity order imposed by the courts last week, which Sir Iain called ridiculous.

It is believed that some MPs may use parliamentary privilege to name the Chinese businessman. Parliamentary privilege gives MPs and peers unrestricted free speech within the chambers, and allows them to name people without the fear of being taken to court.

But others, including Jim McMahon, the minister of housing, communities and local government, believe the naming of H6 is a “matter for the courts”.