MI5 issue urgent warning to MPs about Chinese

[bitchstewie]

This doesn't seem like the biggest shock.

https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/14816303427...

Why would a Chinese national donate £700K to Barry Gardiner or the Labour Party?

[eccles]

I suppose you could ask the same question about the Russians and all those donations to the Conservative party.

[bitchstewie]

eccles said:

I suppose you could ask the same question about the Russians and all those donations to the Conservative party.

Absolutely.

Pandora Papers: Questions over Tory donations by ex-Russian minister's wife

I don't think MP's will be trying to turn this into a party political thing.

[Randy Winkman]

Why would someone pay for someone else's wallpaper?

[Camoradi]

bhstewie said:

This doesn't seem like the biggest shock.

https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/14816303427...

Why would a Chinese national donate £700K to Barry Gardiner or the Labour Party?

10p per word?

[Dastardly Dick]

I thought the headline was referring to the local takeway.

[768]

Labour aligns with CCP interests shocker.

The son working in his office raises more eyebrows for me.

[IAmTheWalrus]

Randy Winkman said:

Why would someone pay for someone else's wallpaper?

Yeah, you see this raises a good point, I mean its such a blazen act.

[greygoose]

Boris is in trouble and the next day this story is revealed by MI5, if I were cynical I would suspect a link to change the news headlines…..

[carinaman]

Has Boris been there?

[oobie38]

768 said:

Labour aligns with CCP interests shocker.

The son working in his office raises more eyebrows for me.

FIFY "UK politicians from both sides align with CCP interests shocker."

Interestingly, Gardiner's statement reads, to me, like he's been instrumental in uncovering this... spin?

In a statement on Thursday, Gardiner said he had been “liaising with our security services for a number of years about Christine Lee” and that they were “made fully aware by me of her engagement with my office and the donations she made to fund researchers in my office in the past”.

“All the donations were properly reported in the register of members’ interests and their source verified at the time. I have been assured by the security services that whilst they have definitively identified improper funding channelled through Christine Lee, this does not relate to any funding received by my office,” he added.

[jmn]

If Gardiner did in fact report his concerns some years ago why did he continue to take the donations? And employ a relative until this morning.

[HRL]

768 said:

Labour aligns with CCP interests shocker.

The son working in his office raises more eyebrows for me.

Managing the MP’s diary no less!

[vaud]

jmn said:

If Gardiner did in fact report his concerns some years ago why did he continue to take the donations? And employ a relative until this morning.

Because he's a hypocrite who failed to do his due diligence?

[mac96]

vaud said:

jmn said:

If Gardiner did in fact report his concerns some years ago why did he continue to take the donations? And employ a relative until this morning.

Because he's a hypocrite who failed to do his due diligence?

Because having provided MI5 with the necessary information it was up to them to do the due diligence? Surely that is what they are for.

Truth is we probably won't know precisely who knew what when, but we shouldn't lose track of who the bad guys are here- clue, they are several thousand miles away (most of them anyway).

[S17Thumper]

jmn said:

If Gardiner did in fact report his concerns some years ago why did he continue to take the donations? And employ a relative until this morning.

One might think that MI5 might not get into arguing over various matters like that in public and BG might be able to say what he likes, within reason… I recognise I’m giving him quite a lot of intellectual credit there.

[bitchstewie]

Gardiner is on LBC now.

Just given a lengthy interview with Iain Dale and is now taking calls from the public.

Astonishingly naive would be an understatement but credit to him for fronting up and not needing to wait for an inquiry to tell him whether he could say whether he knew her.

I'm sure it'll be published later.

[Earthdweller]

bhstewie said:

Gardiner is on LBC now.

Just given a lengthy interview with Iain Dale and is now taking calls from the public.

Astonishingly naive would be an understatement but credit to him for fronting up and not needing to wait for an inquiry to tell him whether he could say whether he knew her.

I'm sure it'll be published later.

I wouldn’t be to sure of that

[pquinn]

He can hardly claim to be ignorant of the claims when we got this story two years ago about him taking £500K of Chinese money.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7870809/C...

[bitchstewie]

pquinn said:

He can hardly claim to be ignorant of the claims when we got this story two years ago about him taking £500K of Chinese money.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7870809/C...

The strange thing he isn't claiming ignorance he's saying the security services knew all about it as he spoke with them about it and apparently at no point did they suggest he stop accepting donations.

Now as Iain Dale pointed out to him that should have been a pretty big warning sign shouldn't it?

The whole thing sounds very odd all round.