Security Update: Official Secrets Act Case

Adam Jogee Excerpts

Monday 13th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis]

As the House knows well, the right hon. Gentleman is personally invested in this issue. Members will understand the history and the reasons for the concerns he has expressed, and I understand why he has taken the opportunity to express them today and on other occasions. The Government fundamentally agree with some of his concerns, though clearly not with his subsequent analysis. He will have noted the point I have made today about the issuing of guidance from the NPSA. We have published that guidance today, and I hope he will acknowledge the determination that exists—from myself as the Minister and from colleagues right across Government—to provide assurances and satisfy his concerns.

One of the ways in which we will do that is through the defending democracy taskforce, of which the right hon. Gentleman was a founding member. I can say to him and to the House that that taskforce provides the fulcrum point for dealing with many of these matters right across Government. It has had its mandate refreshed by the Prime Minister, and we invest a lot in that mechanism. It will seek to provide us with some of the answers we need in order to give the right hon. Gentleman the assurance he seeks. I hope he will understand that I stand ready to meet him and the hon. Member for Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns) to further discuss any concerns they might have. The right hon. Gentleman may not be satisfied today, but I will do what I can to provide that satisfaction and assurance as we go forward.

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

My constituents will welcome the Minister’s clarity that China is indeed a threat. [Interruption.] Let me finish. Those threats to our national security take place not just here, but overseas, and I am increasingly troubled by the actions of the Chinese Government in former British colonies across the world, not least in Africa. They are looting minerals, destroying nature and damaging democracy. That impacts us in this country too, and for far too long, Britain has been missing in action. We have let China run riot, and enough is enough. What engagement has the Minister had with the Soft Power Council to ensure it keeps national security in mind as it carries out its work, and can I urge him to work with colleagues across Government, particularly in the Foreign Office? We need to get serious with China and fast, which requires a cross-Government approach.

[Dan Jarvis]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that these matters require a cross-Government approach, and that is precisely the way in which this Government seek to proceed with them. I think it is fair to say that the Government have referenced concerns about the issues he has raised on a number of occasions, but I would be very happy to discuss them further with him, should he wish to do so.