Fury at 'watered down' China spying crackdown as Rishi Sunak 'could stop short ... trends now
Rishi Sunak is struggling to contain Tory tensions over China today after a backlash at his 'derisory' response to cyberattacks.
The UK publicly identified Beijing as being behind hacks of the elections watchdog and and slew of politicians yesterday.
But the government's retort, sanctioning just two individuals and a small firm in Wuhan as well as summoning the ambassador for a dressing down, drew fury from MPs across parties.
The PM is gathering Cabinet this morning, with signs that ministers are at loggerheads on how tough to be in imposing new restrictions on Chinese firms operating in the UK.
In a dramatic statement to the Commons yesterday, Mr Sunak's deputy Oliver Dowden said Beijing was responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission three years ago.
The personal emails of MPs and peers critical of the regime were also targeted.
In a dramatic statement to the Commons yesterday, deputy PM Oliver Dowden said Beijing was responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission three years ago
Rishi Sunak (pictured in Barrow yesterday) is struggling to contain Tory tensions over China after a backlash at his 'derisory' response to cyberattacks
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) who has faced sanctions from the regime, said the Government needs 'to show China we mean business'
In a move coordinated with Washington, he said that Britain 'will not tolerate' similar activity, although he insisted the democratic system had not been undermined.
Beijing denied claims it had carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing them as 'completely fabricated and malicious slanders'.
A Chinese embassy spokesman urged London to 'stop spreading false information and stop their self-staged, anti-China political farce'.
Mr Dowden indicated that ministers discussing a move to put China on the 'enhanced tier' of countries deemed a threat to the UK.
The National Security Act 2023 came into force in December after being passed by Parliament last summer.
It updated espionage laws by creating several new offences aimed at making it easier to detect and disrupt potential foreign threats operating on home soil.
It set up a Foreign Influence Registration Scheme designed to create a clearer picture about which individuals or entities may be a risk to Britain's interests.
There are two tiers, including a 'political influence tier' and 'enhanced tier'.
The former requires individuals or entities who 'carry out political influence activities in the UK at the direction of a foreign power' to identify themselves.
The latter gives ministers the power to force people or entities to identify themselves for a broader
