LONDON: British police said on Wednesday they had arrested three men on suspicion of assisting China’s foreign intelligence service, and local media reported one was the partner of a sitting lawmaker, in the latest UK accusations of spying by Beijing.

In recent years, relations between Britain and China have been strained by tit-for-tat spying accusations.

Last November, Britain’s MI5 security service warned lawmakers about attempts by Chinese agents to collect information and influence activity at Westminster, which the government labelled “a covert and calculated attempt “by China to interfere in British politics.

Police said counter-terrorism officers had arrested a 39-year-old man in London and two people, aged 68 and 43, in Wales, and had searched properties in London, Cardiff and East Kilbride in Scotland. The suspects are being held in custody.

‘Spouses of lawmakers’

In keeping with usual UK police practice, none were named, but opposition lawmaker Alex Burghart said in parliament that the Guardian and the BBC had “reported that one of those arrested is the spouse of a sitting Labour MP, and that another is the spouse of a former Labour MP”. Joani Reid, the Labour lawmaker for the East Kilbride area, whose husband was reported to have been arrested by the Times and Telegraph newspapers, issued a statement saying she had “never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law”.

“I am not part of my husbands business activities and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation,” it read. “I have never been to China. I have never spoken on China or China-related matters in the (House of) Commons.” There was no immediate comment from the Labour Party.

In a statement, the Chinese embassy in London condemned what it called attempts to “fabricate facts and concoct so-called ‘espionage cases’ to maliciously slander China”, and said it had lodged a protest with the British side. Asked about the reports in parliament, security minister Dan Jarvis declined to give any further details.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026