Starmer forced to ditch government jet for China trip over bugs fear
Keir Starmer's trip to China has sparked intrigue and controversy, as whispers of espionage and security risks swirl around his visit to the Communist state.
Martyn Brown
PUBLISHED: 07:01, Wed, Jan 28,
Keir Starmer was forced to leave his government jet at home for his controversial trip to China because of security risks, it has been claimed.
The Prime Minister has just arrived in the Communist state for a three-day visit as he desperately seeks to drum up business to help boost the UK’s floundering economy.
But his trip to the far-east has already been marred by controversyamid reports that China hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years.
State-sponsored hackers are known to have targeted the phones ofsome of the closest aides to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2021 and 2024.
It is unclear whether the hack included the mobile phones of the prime ministers themselves.
Intelligence sources in the US indicated that the Chinese espionage operation, known as Salt Typhoon, was ongoing, raising the possibility that Sir Keir and his senior staff may also have been exposed.
MI5 issued an “espionage alert” to Parliament in November about the threat of spying from the Chinese state.
The Express understandsthat Sir and his entire team are taking “burner” phones and laptops to China to protect against any snooping.
Dozens of disposable devices have been issued to the government delegationtasked with building bridges with Beijing this week.
Speaking to journalistsen-route to China Sir Keir insisted there is “no evidence” that his phone had been hacked by the Chinese.
“No, there’s no evidence of that. We’ve got robust schemes, security measures in place as you’d expect.” (He lives his life by lying all the time. Its natural for him!)
But former Security Minister Tom Tugendhat suggested the concerns run deeper than mobile phones.(Remember the Uk is the US’s staunches Allie, doesnt that calm your nerves?)
“Starmer’s circus aren’t just taking burner phones to China to beat spying, they’re taking a burner plane!,”he posted on X.
“The government jet is staying home because it would need to be guarded round the clock to stop China putting bugs on it - so they’ve hired a plane!”
British security sources said that despite intensive investigation,there was no evidence that Salt Typhoon had been successful in the UK.
They added that there had been evidence that China was targeting government phones but this was not systemic.(kek what a stupid statement)
Sir Keir’s visit to China is the first by a British leader for eight years.
Theresa May’s went there in February 2018 at the height of the so-called golden era of relations between the countries. It is taking place days after Beijing’s controversial mega-embassy in London was approved.
The diplomatic mission, which took a year of planning, aims to revive a business dialogue with China.
A large group of British chief executives are also flying to the countryto join their Chinese counterparts on a “UK-China CEO council”.
Bosses from AstraZeneca, BP, HSBC, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, the asset manager Schroders and Standard Chartered, the bank, are among the British companies set to join the revamped council. (These people should have taken separate planes.)
All business figures invited on the trip are also expected to have received advice from the government on bringing burner devices.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2163439/starmer-China-trip-spy-fears-government-jet
The UK news reveals government plans seems pretty dangerous.