Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings has made explosive claims that China compromised Britain’s most safe knowledge programs for years, stealing huge quantities of top-secret info — and that senior officers coated it up.
Driving the information
Cummings, one of the influential figures in Johnson’s Downing Road, alleged {that a} breach of the UK authorities’s highest-level categorized knowledge community — often known as the “Strap” system — allowed Beijing to reap “extraordinarily secret and intensely harmful” info over a protracted interval.He stated he and Johnson have been first knowledgeable of the breach in 2020, and that they have been warned disclosing particulars may very well be a felony offence. The stolen materials, he claimed, included intelligence company knowledge, paperwork from the Nationwide Safety Secretariat, and different extremely delicate state secrets and techniques.“It was so weird that individuals within the room thought they should have misheard,” Cummings advised The Occasions, describing the assembly the place the breach was disclosed. “Huge quantities of information categorized as extraordinarily secret have been compromised.”
Why it issues
If correct, the breach represents one of the vital nationwide safety failures in fashionable British historical past — doubtlessly exposing intelligence operations, diplomatic methods, and demanding infrastructure vulnerabilities to a overseas energy.Cummings alleges that the Cupboard Workplace prioritised defending relations with Beijing over confronting the breach publicly, arguing that “the British state has prioritised Chinese language cash over its personal safety for many years.” He claimed that even present ministers, together with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, could also be unaware of the total extent of the compromise.The revelation comes amid deep political fallout from the collapse of a high-profile Chinese language espionage prosecution. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped fees in opposition to two males accused of spying for Beijing after the federal government declined to formally state that China was a “risk” to nationwide safety on the time of the alleged offences.
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What was stolen:
The “Strap” system — the UK’s highest classification degree — was reportedly compromised. This contains intelligence knowledge, Cupboard Workplace secrets and techniques, and delicate state materials.
Length of breach:
In keeping with Cummings, the community transferring the UK’s most delicate knowledge was infiltrated “for years.”
Official cover-up:
Cummings claims senior officers warned these knowledgeable to not talk about the breach with the media, with some proof intentionally “buried.”
Financial vs safety priorities:
He accuses successive governments of downplaying threats from China to guard commerce and funding ties.
Political fallout:
The allegations coincide with Starmer’s determination to publish witness statements linked to the collapsed spy trial — paperwork that might make clear the federal government’s stance on Chinese language espionage.
Backside line:
Cummings’ claims, if substantiated, level to a systemic failure of Britain’s nationwide safety equipment and lift profound questions on how successive governments have balanced safety dangers in opposition to financial pursuits with China. Additionally they put renewed strain on Prime Minister Starmer to totally disclose the size of Beijing’s infiltration and the British state’s response.
