Labour MP Joani Reid is under investigation by the party after her husband, businessman and former Labour adviser David Taylor, was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. Taylor is one of three men accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service. The three men, including Taylor and two others aged 43 and 68, have been released on bail.
Taylor was arrested in London, while the other two men were arrested in Wales. Counter-terrorism police have searched properties where the men were arrested, as well as other properties in London, East Kilbride and Cardiff. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said Reid had been referred to the party's governance and legal unit and that judgements would be made later on Thursday.
This is incredibly serious, deeply concerning, a matter of national security rightly being investigated by the police and that needs to be a thorough investigation so we can get to the bottom of it.
Sarwar also said matters about Reid's suspension or stepping back from her role on Westminster's home affairs committee were under consideration by the governance and legal unit. Reid said she was not part of her husband's business activities and she had never seen anything to make her suspect he had 'broken any law'. ' Reid said she had never been to China nor had she ever spoken on any China-related matters in the House of Commons.
' The specific evidence that led to David Taylor's arrest on suspicion of spying for China has not been disclosed by authorities. The identities and roles of the other two men arrested in Wales remain unclear.
Let's be really clear here, we don't see any kind of indications of donations, for example, that have come to the Scottish Labour Party.