Chinese spy case: Time for radical transparency from the Conservatives

EMBARGO: Immediate release

Responding to a letter from the deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins who claimed the word "enemy" was included in the draft witness statement written when the Conservatives were in power, but then was taken out by the Labour government, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Max Wilkinson MP said:

"Kemi Badenoch has well and truly been hoist by her own petard.


"We’ve long suspected that both the Conservatives and Labour had serious questions to answer over this case. Today’s revelations make a mockery of the Conservative leadership’s faux outrage over the past fortnight - they owe the public an apology for misleading them.


"Now it’s time for Kemi Badenoch to answer some of the very questions she’s been so keen to ask. Did Matthew Collins meet with ministers between the initial draft and the final submission of the witness statement? And who were the mysterious ‘backchannels’ referenced in Collins statements who were tasked with suppressing the questions of backbenchers while the Tories were in government? It's time for some radical transparency from the Conservatives."

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The story has been reported here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn095n9qd87o