Ian Duncan Smith, a former leader of the ruling Conservative Party, said the situation had been revealed by MI5, Britain’s domestic counter-intelligence service, which had warned House Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
Duncan Smith said lawmakers had been informed that the agent was active in Parliament and had been working with a British lawmaker. “This is a matter of grave concern,” he said.
CNN has reached out to the Chinese embassy in London for comment.
Duncan Smith asked that, in light of the incident, parliament consider beefing up security and deport the Chinese agent. Duncan Smith said he heard the individual would not be deported and questioned why further action would not be taken against “an agent of a foreign despotic and despicable power.”
“This is surely not good enough,” he said.