UK’s MI5 spy agency may have issued Chinese alert to distract from Partygate, tribunal hears

London CNN —

A former opposition lawmaker in Britain’s House of Commons has alleged that the UK’s domestic spy agency MI5 may have issued a rare alert notice in 2022 about an alleged Chinese agent as a distraction from the so-called Partygate scandal, according to testimony before a tribunal looking into the alert.

In the alert issued back in January 2022, MI5 alleged Christine Ching Kui Lee had “acted covertly in coordination” on behalf of China’s ruling Communist Party and was “judged to be involved in political interference activities in the UK.”

The alert was issued a day after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized to the House of Commons for the Partygate scandal. Johnson’s premiership came crashing down in 2022 after it emerged that numerous social gatherings took place on his watch – some of which he personally attended – at a time when Britons were living under strict rules due to Covid-19.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal in London heard on Monday that Barry Gardiner, former lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party to whom Lee donated over £500,000 (more than $600,000) between 2014 and 2020, said in a text that he had heard that the MI5 alert had been issued to “detract attention” from Johnson’s Partygate scandal, PA news agency reported.

In a text forwarded to Lee by a friend, Gardiner said that “many people” had told him “they believe the reason for putting out the story when they did was to detract attention from Boris’ Partygate apology,” according to PA’s report. Gardiner did not specify exactly who these people making the suggestion were. Nor was any evidence provided to the tribunal Monday to back the allegations. The hearing will continue on Tuesday.