Man arrested on suspicion of Chinese spying was in UK parliament as recently as January

LONDON — A man recently arrested on suspicion of spying for China met British lawmakers in the U.K. Houses of Parliament in January and visited at least one other time in the past year, according to two witnesses who spoke with POLITICO.

David Taylor, a former Labour adviser, was one of three men arrested earlier this month in connection with Chinese espionage investigations.

On Jan. 27, just weeks before his arrest, he attended and spoke at a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on Qatar, held in the parliament’s Portcullis House. The two eyewitnesses said Taylor was accompanied in parliament by his wife, the Labour MP Joani Reid, on that date and was wearing an orange visitor lanyard. Taylor has not commented publicly since his arrest and could not be reached for comment. Reid did not respond to requests for comment by POLITICO.

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told the Commons the three men who were arrested did not have passes granting them full access to the parliamentary estate. Yet Taylor’s presence will raise questions about the current access arrangements for guests of those who do hold passes.

A parliamentary spokesperson said: “Parliament is a public building, and we facilitate the visits of thousands of people to the estate each week. We have robust security processes in place, with the safety and security of all those who work in and visit Parliament our top priority. Members in both Houses can sponsor events on behalf of external individuals, UK registered charities, companies and organizations (including APPGs), in accordance with their own judgment. We provide advice to Members to make them aware of potential risks, however we cannot comment on our security processes or measures.”

Non-passholders must be escorted while on the parliamentary estate by a passholder at all times. Members of the U.K. parliament can bring guests into many areas of the estate, including the on-estate pub Strangers — which was subject to tightened security last year following a drink-spiking allegation reported by POLITICO. 

Under current rules, invitees to events in parliament are not individually vetted. MPs or peers are seen as effectively vouching for them.

In the wake of the recent arrests, Hoyle urged MPs’ staff to report any “unusual approach” from foreign agents and to review guidance issued in 2025 on how to identify and report foreign states targeting the U.K. parliament. Lawmakers have been warned to be more vigilant about those trying to gain access to Westminster.

Taylor was arrested by counter-terrorism police on March 4 on suspicion of assisting the Chinese foreign intelligence service and remains under investigation. The Metropolitan Police also declined to comment.

His wife, who is the MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, said in a statement at the time she had “never seen anything to make me suspect my husband has broken any law.” 

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Reid, who has said she is not part of her husband’s business activities. She voluntarily resigned the Labour whip post pending an internal Labour investigation. She is not under investigation by the police and no accusations have been made against her.

Taylor joined the Asia House think tank as director of policy and programs in September 2024. The think tank is listed as the “secretariat” of the all-party parliamentary group on Qatar and was also formerly listed as the secretariat for the all-party parliamentary group on Central Asia. Taylor attended and helped organize meetings on Qatar in his role as a representative of the secretariat.

Asia House, which declined comment, has since suspended Taylor and started an internal investigation.

The all-party parliamentary group is an informal cross party group that aims to “enhance parliamentary understanding of Qatar’s economic and strategic importance to the U.K.” Lawmakers in the group have previously visited the Gulf state — which maintains strong relations with China — on trips paid for by Qatar.

On Oct. 29 last year, Taylor also attended and spoke at a meeting of the group on Qatar. One of the eyewitnesses told POLITICO that Reid had escorted him to the meeting in October, though Reid is not a member of the Qatar group. 

One of the eyewitnesses, and another person familiar with the APPG, said that Asia House’s position as secretariat has now been suspended.

The Mail on Sunday also reported that Taylor, a former Labour adviser, held a meeting with the government’s China Minister Seema Malhotra in January ahead of a speech at Asia House. It was also reported, in the Times newspaper, that Taylor claimed to have held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Britain’s handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The recent arrests were not the only instance of investigations into Chinese espionage in the U.K. British prosecutors last year dropped charges against two other men, Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, who had been charged with espionage offenses for “providing prejudicial information to a foreign state, China.” Both men denied the charges. One of the men was previously employed as a researcher for a Conservative MP, and was involved in a cross-party group focused on China.

Esther Webber contributed to this report.