London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

Hostile foreign states pose ‘real risk’ of influencing MPs groups

Hostile foreign states pose ‘real risk’ of influencing MPs groups

Standards committee report calls for reforms to all-party parliamentary groups to avert ‘next great parliamentary scandal’
Hostile foreign states and others pose a “real risk” of gaining access and wielding influence through all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs), the Commons standards committee has warned.

Calling for reforms to avert what it described as the “next great parliamentary scandal”, the committee also voiced concerns that a dramatic rise in the number of the informal cross-party groups also risks “inappropriate influence and access” because they are so difficult to monitor.

The cautions come after an unprecedented security warning from MI5, circulated to MPs and peers earlier this year, that accused a lawyer of seeking to improperly influence parliamentarians on behalf of China’s ruling Communist party.

Barry Gardiner had received more than £500,000 in donations from Christine Lee before the alert was issued.

Giving private evidence to the report, the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said that indiscriminate engagement with state actors who may be hostile to UK interests did not take adequate account of the potential security risks to parliament.

“I worry that we are not joining up our security and the threats that we have,” said Hoyle, in his oral evidence for the report published on Saturday. “These people are not our friends.

“Some are our friends, but they have intentions and objectives, which worries me. If we are not careful, the security implication for the opening up of parliament is very, very worrying.”

The report – titled All-Party Parliamentary Groups: improving governance and regulation – comes after an investigation earlier this year, by the Guardian and Open Democracy, found that more than £13m has been poured into a growing network of MPs’ interest groups by private firms including healthcare bodies, arms companies and tech companies, fuelling concerns over the potential for backdoor influence.

The report states that “improper access” by paid lobbyists seeking to wield influence through APPGs was a risk that had been identified as far back as 2013, but that increased transparency introduced since has not mitigated the risk in the way it had been hoped.

The threat from hostile overseas states seeking to wield influence discreetly through APPGs was one that had only developed in recent years, added the MPs behind the report. They said they had been persuaded by Hoyle’s evidence that this was “a very real risk, which needs addressing with some urgency”.

APPGs are informal groups representing MPs’ and peers’ interests, from China and Russia to cancer, digital regulation, longevity and jazz. They must be chaired by MPs, but are often run or funded by lobbyists and corporate donors seeking to influence government policy.

The standards committee concluded in their report: “We are concerned that if left unchecked, APPGs could represent the next great parliamentary scandal, with commercial entities effectively buying access to and influence of parliamentarians and decision-makers.”

The MPs behind the report said Commons authorities should “provide more significant support” to help parliamentarians scrutinise the benefits being offered by foreign governments.

Funding should be made more transparent, while the number of APPGs must be reduced from the current number of 744, the standards committee recommended.

Regulatory enforcement was also advised, as was limits on secretariats of the groups to “reduce the risk of improper access”.

Standards committee chair, Chris Bryant, said APPGs “must never be a backdoor means of peddling influence around the corridors of power or pursuing a commercial interest”.

“[This] report represents a wake-up call for us all,” the Labour MP said. “The evidence we have gathered is chilling and points towards an urgent need for the house to take action.”

In a statement at the time, Gardiner said he had been “liaising with our security services for a number of years about Christine Lee” and that he had been “assured by the security services that while they have definitively identified improper funding channelled through Christine Lee, this does not relate to any funding received by my office.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×