Starmer hit by new China spying scandal after brutal PMQs

A fresh China spying scandal has hit Labour after David Taylor, the partner of Joani Reid, the MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, was arrested on suspicion of assisting Beijing intelligence. Police arrested Mr Taylor along with two other men under the same charges.

The arrests followed a bruising encounter for Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs, where Kemi Badenoch branded his response to the Iran war “weak and pathetic”. Camilla Tominey and Tim Stanley review what happened, and express their surprise that Badenoch didn’t make more of Donald Trump’s “not exactly Churchill” criticism.

They also speak to Gen Sir Richard Barrons, author of the Government’s 2025 strategic defence review, who says we need to be spending billions more on our military, but the Government is choosing to spend money on welfare instead.

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