Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)
(PA Wire)
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Oliver Dowden is expected to announce sanctions on individuals linked to China after Beijing was accused of carrying out “malign” cyberattacks on UK democracy.
The deputy prime minister will tell parliament that China is behind a wave of cyberattacks on the Electoral Commission as well as against 43 MPs and peers, in a major hack that is reported to have begun in August 2021 but was not identified until October 2022.
The hackers are said to have accessed the names and addresses of anyone in Britain who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022.
A senior government source told The Times: “This represents a malign attack on Britain’s democratic institutions. Part of our response to that is to call it out and attribute it in a very public way.”
Lord David Cameron, the foreign secretary, is expected to address the 1922 Committee of Conservative back benchers later to warn of the threat posed by China.
He has previously been criticised by MPs for what they described as his “soft stance” on Beijing afer speaking at two investment events linked to the country’s global infrastructure strategy.
UK will ‘stop at nothing’ to counter cyber threat
The UK will “stop at nothing” to protect against cyber attacks, a government minister said, as China was set to be accused of targeting the elections watchdog.
Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie said he could not comment on the speculation about China but told LBC Radio: “The fact is that this government has invested a lot of time, money and effort in ensuring that our cyber security capabilities are at the place they need to be, we’ve increased the powers of our intelligence and security community to be able to deal with these threats.
“And we will stop at nothing to ensure that the British people, our democracy, our freedom of speech and our way of life is defended.”
Matt Mathers25 March 2024 09:29
China hawks briefed by parliament’s director of security
A small group of politicians who are hawkish on China are said to have been called to a briefing by parliament’s director of security, Alison Giles, in relation alleged cyber attacks by individuals linked to Beijing.
They include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton and SNP MP Stewart McDonald, The Sunday Times reported.
The four are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China pressure group, which focuses on issues involving the increasingly assertive Asian power.
Some of those affected are understood to be preparing to jointly address the matter publicly on Monday.
A government spokeswoman refused to comment on Sunday.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith is one of parliament’s most vocal critics of China
(PA Archive)
Matt Mathers25 March 2024 09:24
In full: China accused of ‘malign’ cyberattack on Electoral Commission ‘after hacking data of 40million voters’
The UK is poised to sanction those believed to be involved in Chinese state-backed interference, after deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden sets out details about the alleged incident later on Monday.
Matt Mathers25 March 2024 09:16
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage.
China has been accused of carrying out “malign” cyber attacks on the UK, with Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, set to update MPs in the Commons later about the threat posed by Beijing.
We’ll have updates on this story and others from Westminster and elsewhere throughout the day.
Stay tuned for all the latest news.
Matt Mathers25 March 2024 09:15
