Minister Urges MPs To Be Careful Over Naming Alleged Chinese Spy Involved With Prince Andrew

A minister has called for MPs to “exercise caution” when it comes to naming the alleged Chinese spy who was involved with Prince Andrew.

The Duke of York reportedly invited a businessman known only as H6 to Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle, according to The Times.

The man, whose identity is protected by a court order, has since been banned from the UK by the government on national security grounds in 2023.

H6, who also met Theresa May and David Cameron, was described in court as having an “unusual degree of trust” with the Duke of York.

But Andrew said last week he had “ceased all contact” with the man since the concerns were first raised.

Reform UK’s MPs are now considering using their parliamentary privilege – legal immunity which allow parliamentarians to bring topics into the public domain when speaking in the Commons or in the Lords – to name H6.

Reform leader Nigel Farage told the Mail on Sunday: “The man should be named immediately – otherwise, the whole thing smacks of an establishment cover-up.

“If it’s not resolved in the courts, he should be named in the Commons. It’s clearly in the national interest.”

However, local government minister Jim McMahon told Times Radio this morning: “We do have a parliamentary privilege and that should be exercised with caution and the overriding public interest has to be maintained, of course.”

He continued: “The identity of the person is, of course, known to the authorities and that is in hand, that is being dealt with. So for those who are coming to parliament with the intention of naming, they would need to be able to explain where the public interest is in that context.”

Presenter Aasmah Mir asked if he therefore thinks there is no public interest in naming the figure.

The minister replied: “From a personal point of view, it’s not something that I’d be queuing up to do today in the context of the person being known to the authorities and the matter being dealt with.”

But, he added: “I certainly understand the concern. It’s a concern for all of us that work in parliament that the trust has been breached in the way that it has and that somebody has been found to slip through the net.

“That clearly is a concern. Whether or not that requires somebody being named in parliament under parliamentary privilege, I think is a separate matter. But let’s hear what individual MPs have got to say.”

He also insisted that “checks and balances are robust and the relationship with China is always one of being eyes wide open”.

But, he admitted: “The fact that an individual has been allowed to come into the system and take a position of responsibility that has given access to information, to conversations, is a concern for every parliamentarian because of the nature of information that we deal with on a daily basis.

“And so I think we can separate the two issues out. One is the strategic relationship that maintains notwithstanding. The second one is this incident and the concern that naturally it raises.”

Home secretary Yvette Cooper did not say if she thought H6′s anonymity should be lifted over the weekend, only telling broadcasters: “We always respect the decisions of the courts and also don’t comment on individual cases.”

It comes more than five years after Andrew stepped down from his royal duties over a car crash BBC Newsnight interview where he spoke of his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

King Charles allegedly axed his brother’s £1m annual “living allowance” in the summer too, and withdrew the private security for his home.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Andrew’s office said: “The Duke of York followed advice from HMG and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised.

“The Duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed.

“He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.”