Calls for government statement or urgent question in Commons on activities of ‘H6’

Iain Duncan Smith was not the only Conservative MP who described the alleged Chinese spy “H6” as the “tip of the iceberg” on the media this morning. In an interview on BBC Breakfast Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, said:

I’m absolutely certain that there are members of the United Front Work Department [a Chinese intelligence gathering unit] who are active right now in attempting to influence journalism, academics, politics, and the whole lot. This is really the tip of the iceberg.

And so the story I can understand why it’s been about Prince Andrew, but it’s not really about Prince Andrew. It’s about the way the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to exert influence here in the United Kingdom.

This is possibly the strongest of friendship for Norway, across the North Sea.

A lot of history and common experience but now we are really strengthened by common issues right ahead of us – security, a more unstable Europe that is going to require defence co-operation and also energy and climate.

It’s really fantastic to be here today. As you rightly say between our two countries huge shared history, forged sometimes in difficult circumstances but a very, very strong history, shared thinking, shared values.

And strategically we’re very, very closely bound together of course on issues of defence and security but also on questions of energy.