Newslinks for Tuesday the 27th Jan 2026
This deserves loud pushback.
China targeted the phones of Tory No.10 aides under successive Prime Ministers, and still hasn’t stopped
“China hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years, The Telegraph can disclose. The spying operation is understood to have compromised senior members of the government, exposing their private communications to Beijing. State-sponsored hackers are known to have targeted the phones of some of the closest aides to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2021 and 2024. It is unclear whether the hack included the mobile phones of the prime ministers themselves, but one source with knowledge of the breach said it went “right into the heart of Downing Street. Intelligence sources in the US indicated that the Chinese espionage operation, known as Salt Typhoon, was ongoing, raising the possibility that Sir Keir Starmer and his senior staff may also have been exposed. MI5 issued an “espionage alert” to Parliament in November about the threat of spying from the Chinese state. Sir Keir departs for China this week – the first visit by a British prime minister since Baroness May in 2018 – to secure trade and investment ties with Beijing” – Daily Telegraph
Chinese hackers targeted top UK officials – The Times
Phones of senior officials in Downing Street ‘have been hacked by China for years’ – Daily Mail
Fury as Starmer presides over ‘ongoing’ China spy hack to the ‘heart of Downing Street’ – Daily Express
Xi’s secret weapon to divide Starmer and Trump: net zero – Daily Telegraph
Starmer ‘courting dictatorship’ with China visit, says peer sanctioned by Beijing – The i
Top Chinese general ousted after ‘leaking secrets to US’ as ‘abnormal’ changes to military sparks alarm bells in Taiwan – The Sun
Comment
As Starmer visits China, how when Theresa May was in Beijing she was told to get dressed under the bed covers so local spies couldn’t film her naked – Jason Groves, Daily Mail
What Starmer can learn from dominant China – William Hague, The Times
China’s vampire state is about to sink its fangs into Kowtow Keir. Stand by for a humiliating spectacle – Ian Williams, Daily Mail
Keir Starmer will have to play it tough in China – Michael Kovrig, The Times
Labour’s China strategy faces its first real test – Eliot Wilson CapX
Braverman brands claims she defected to Reform over mental health issues ‘pathetic’
“Suella Braverman has attacked Kemi Badenoch over the Tories’ claim that she had “mental health” issues. The Conservatives withdrew a statement saying the former home secretary, who defected to Reform UK on Monday morning, had been “very unhappy” and that the party had done all it could to “look after” her mental health. Mrs Braverman told a press conference that the Tory leader had previously accused her …
This deserves loud pushback.
China targeted the phones of Tory No.10 aides under successive Prime Ministers, and still hasn’t stopped
“China hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years, The Telegraph can disclose. The spying operation is understood to have compromised senior members of the government, exposing their private communications to Beijing. State-sponsored hackers are known to have targeted the phones of some of the closest aides to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2021 and 2024. It is unclear whether the hack included the mobile phones of the prime ministers themselves, but one source with knowledge of the breach said it went “right into the heart of Downing Street. Intelligence sources in the US indicated that the Chinese espionage operation, known as Salt Typhoon, was ongoing, raising the possibility that Sir Keir Starmer and his senior staff may also have been exposed. MI5 issued an “espionage alert” to Parliament in November about the threat of spying from the Chinese state. Sir Keir departs for China this week – the first visit by a British prime minister since Baroness May in 2018 – to secure trade and investment ties with Beijing” – Daily Telegraph
Chinese hackers targeted top UK officials – The Times
Phones of senior officials in Downing Street ‘have been hacked by China for years’ – Daily Mail
Fury as Starmer presides over ‘ongoing’ China spy hack to the ‘heart of Downing Street’ – Daily Express
Xi’s secret weapon to divide Starmer and Trump: net zero – Daily Telegraph
Starmer ‘courting dictatorship’ with China visit, says peer sanctioned by Beijing – The i
Top Chinese general ousted after ‘leaking secrets to US’ as ‘abnormal’ changes to military sparks alarm bells in Taiwan – The Sun
Comment
As Starmer visits China, how when Theresa May was in Beijing she was told to get dressed under the bed covers so local spies couldn’t film her naked – Jason Groves, Daily Mail
What Starmer can learn from dominant China – William Hague, The Times
China’s vampire state is about to sink its fangs into Kowtow Keir. Stand by for a humiliating spectacle – Ian Williams, Daily Mail
Keir Starmer will have to play it tough in China – Michael Kovrig, The Times
Labour’s China strategy faces its first real test – Eliot Wilson CapX
Braverman brands claims she defected to Reform over mental health issues ‘pathetic’
“Suella Braverman has attacked Kemi Badenoch over the Tories’ claim that she had “mental health” issues. The Conservatives withdrew a statement saying the former home secretary, who defected to Reform UK on Monday morning, had been “very unhappy” and that the party had done all it could to “look after” her mental health. Mrs Braverman told a press conference that the Tory leader had previously accused her …
Newslinks for Tuesday the 27th Jan 2026
This deserves loud pushback.
China targeted the phones of Tory No.10 aides under successive Prime Ministers, and still hasn’t stopped
“China hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years, The Telegraph can disclose. The spying operation is understood to have compromised senior members of the government, exposing their private communications to Beijing. State-sponsored hackers are known to have targeted the phones of some of the closest aides to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2021 and 2024. It is unclear whether the hack included the mobile phones of the prime ministers themselves, but one source with knowledge of the breach said it went “right into the heart of Downing Street. Intelligence sources in the US indicated that the Chinese espionage operation, known as Salt Typhoon, was ongoing, raising the possibility that Sir Keir Starmer and his senior staff may also have been exposed. MI5 issued an “espionage alert” to Parliament in November about the threat of spying from the Chinese state. Sir Keir departs for China this week – the first visit by a British prime minister since Baroness May in 2018 – to secure trade and investment ties with Beijing” – Daily Telegraph
Chinese hackers targeted top UK officials – The Times
Phones of senior officials in Downing Street ‘have been hacked by China for years’ – Daily Mail
Fury as Starmer presides over ‘ongoing’ China spy hack to the ‘heart of Downing Street’ – Daily Express
Xi’s secret weapon to divide Starmer and Trump: net zero – Daily Telegraph
Starmer ‘courting dictatorship’ with China visit, says peer sanctioned by Beijing – The i
Top Chinese general ousted after ‘leaking secrets to US’ as ‘abnormal’ changes to military sparks alarm bells in Taiwan – The Sun
Comment
As Starmer visits China, how when Theresa May was in Beijing she was told to get dressed under the bed covers so local spies couldn’t film her naked – Jason Groves, Daily Mail
What Starmer can learn from dominant China – William Hague, The Times
China’s vampire state is about to sink its fangs into Kowtow Keir. Stand by for a humiliating spectacle – Ian Williams, Daily Mail
Keir Starmer will have to play it tough in China – Michael Kovrig, The Times
Labour’s China strategy faces its first real test – Eliot Wilson CapX
Braverman brands claims she defected to Reform over mental health issues ‘pathetic’
“Suella Braverman has attacked Kemi Badenoch over the Tories’ claim that she had “mental health” issues. The Conservatives withdrew a statement saying the former home secretary, who defected to Reform UK on Monday morning, had been “very unhappy” and that the party had done all it could to “look after” her mental health. Mrs Braverman told a press conference that the Tory leader had previously accused her …
