Peers to be forced to disclose China and Russia business links in 'red money' crackdown
2 min read
Peers will be forced to declare any business interests linked to China and Russia as part of a wider effort to crackdown on "red money" in public life, it has been reported.
The Government is said to be backing a change in House of Lords rules that would force peers to declare the full extent of their business interests with the countries, bringing them closer to the rules followed by MPs.
The Sunday Times found through Parliament’s register of interests that at least seven members of the upper chamber have declared business links with Russia but that unlike MPs, they do not have to declare how much money they have earned from foreign companies.
Meanwhile a new espionage bill will allow Britain to oust intelligence officials more easily, in a bid to curb the number of foreign spies working for banks and other major businesses in Britain.
Security minister Ben Wallace told the paper that action was needed to boost transparency in the political system and to safeguard Britain against “hybrid attacks” by hostile states.
“Countries that seek to undermine the West target vulnerabilities in their politics and media," he said.
"The UK has a strong mainstream media that gives us better resilience than most but I am certain that one of our weak points is where we lack transparency in our political system.”
He added that last year’s attack on Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Salisburyhad “taught us we have to harden the environment and plug the gaps where foreign intelligence agents exploit our open society and economy".
The report comes amid the row over the potential role of Huawei in providing "non-core" technology for the upcoming 5G mobile network - despite a raft of security concerns among the UK's allies about the firm.
Several Cabinet ministers, including Conservative leadership hopefuls Gavin Williamson, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, were last week said to have raised their objections.
PoliticsHome revealed that Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill had triggered a Whitehall investigation after information from a National Security Council meeting, involving Cabinet members, on the telecoms giant found its way into the press.
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