Advice ignored by ministers could have blocked Prince Andrew ‘spy’

Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, tells the Observer he advised Tories to criminalise foreign agents in 2019

• Prince Andrew may have been a victim of Chairman Mao’s ‘magic weapon’

Ministers failed to act on advice to tighten security laws that could have prevented an alleged Chinese spy from targeting Prince Andrew, a ­former attorney general has said.

Dominic Grieve, a former Tory MP who chaired the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) until 2019, said ministers were advised five years ago to introduce laws to criminalise foreign agents, but failed to do so. Similar laws already exist in the US and Australia.