Sir Keir Starmer said the Government was “concerned about the challenge that China poses” in response to questions about the alleged spy with close links to the Duke of York.
Itc omes as a minister admitted it is a “concern” that an alleged Chinese spy was able to “slip through the net” to form links at the heart of the British establishment.
The suspect, known only as H6, is said to have become a “close” confidant of the Duke of York and has also been pictured with senior politicians including David Cameron and Theresa May.
Local government minister Mr McMahon told Times Radio: “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.”
MPs could seek to use parliamentary privilege to reveal H6’s identity, but government minister Jim McMahon said the legal protection offered to parliamentarians should be used with caution.
Nigel Farage has said his Reform UK party is prepared to use parliamentary privilege to name the alleged agent, known only as H6, in the chamber unless the courts lift an anonymity order that protects his identity.
H6 was first excluded from Britain by then-home secretary Suella Braverman in 2023, when the Home Office said he was believed to have carried out “covert and deceptive activity” for the Chinese Communist Party.