Labour MP received £500,000 in funding from Chinese Communist agent

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A senior Labour MP received more than £500,000 from a Chinese agent engaged in “political interference activities” in the UK on behalf of the communist regime, it has emerged. “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.” Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who has been involved in helping Hong Kong-Chinese people flee the communist regime, expressed concern they could now be at risk as a result of Lee’s activities. In the Security Service Interference Alert sent to MPs and peers, MI5 said Lee “acted covertly” in co-ordination with the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. “Lee has been engaged in the facilitation of financial donations to political parties, parliamentarians, aspiring parliamentarians, and individuals seeking political office in the UK, including facilitating donations to political entities on behalf of foreign nationals.” In an accompanying letter, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said they included donations from politicians in China and Hong Kong, and that among those targeted was the now disbanded Chinese in Britain all party parliamentary group, which Mr Gardiner chaired.