Newslinks for Tuesday the 27th Jan 2026 | Conservative Home

China targeted the phones of Tory No.10 aides under successive Prime Ministers, and still hasn’t stopped

“China hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years, The Telegraph can disclose. The spying operation is understood to have compromised senior members of the government, exposing their private communications to Beijing. State-sponsored hackers are known to have targeted the phones of some of the closest aides to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2021 and 2024. It is unclear whether the hack included the mobile phones of the prime ministers themselves, but one source with knowledge of the breach said it went “right into the heart of Downing Street. Intelligence sources in the US indicated that the Chinese espionage operation, known as Salt Typhoon, was ongoing, raising the possibility that Sir Keir Starmer and his senior staff may also have been exposed. MI5 issued an “espionage alert” to Parliament in November about the threat of spying from the Chinese state. Sir Keir departs for China this week – the first visit by a British prime minister since Baroness May in 2018 – to secure trade and investment ties with Beijing” – Daily Telegraph

• Chinese hackers targeted top UK officials – The Times
• Phones of senior officials in Downing Street ‘have been hacked by China for years’ – Daily Mail
• Fury as Starmer presides over ‘ongoing’ China spy hack to the ‘heart of Downing Street’ – Daily Express
• Xi’s secret weapon to divide Starmer and Trump: net zero – Daily Telegraph
• Starmer ‘courting dictatorship’ with China visit, says peer sanctioned by Beijing – The i
• Top Chinese general ousted after ‘leaking secrets to US’ as ‘abnormal’ changes to military sparks alarm bells in Taiwan – The Sun

Comment

• As Starmer visits China, how when Theresa May was in Beijing she was told to get dressed under the bed covers so local spies couldn’t film her naked – Jason Groves, Daily Mail
• What Starmer can learn from dominant China – William Hague, The Times
• China’s vampire state is about to sink its fangs into Kowtow Keir. Stand by for a humiliating spectacle – Ian Williams, Daily Mail
• Keir Starmer will have to play it tough in China – Michael Kovrig, The Times
• Labour’s China strategy faces its first real test – Eliot Wilson CapX

Braverman brands claims she defected to Reform over mental health issues ‘pathetic’

“Suella Braverman has attacked Kemi Badenoch over the Tories’ claim that she had “mental health” issues. The Conservatives withdrew a statement saying the former home secretary, who defected to Reform UK on Monday morning, had been “very unhappy” and that the party had done all it could to “look after” her mental health. Mrs Braverman told a press conference that the Tory leader had previously accused her of having had a “nervous breakdown” and said she had now repeated the charge. Reform’s newest MP added: “Those attacks say more about them than they do about me.” She added: “It is a bit pathetic … I’m not really going to dignify it. It is, I’m afraid, just more sorry signs of a bitter and desperate party that’s in free fall.” Mrs Braverman claimed Mrs Badenoch said she “was having a nervous breakdown” in 2024 after the former home secretary blamed the Tories’ general election loss on failings on immigration and Brexit.” – Daily Telegraph

• I was in the room when Farage pulled off yet another jaw-dropping surprise – Express
• Backlash over Tory ‘mental health’ jibe at Suella Braverman – The Times
• Suella Braverman defects to Reform – Spectator
• ‘Pathetic!’ Farage brands Tories ‘abusive’ for claiming Suella Braverman’s ‘mental health’ sparked Reform defection – The Sun
• Suella Braverman becomes latest Tory MP to defect to Reform UK – FT
• Farage rubs salt in Kemi’s wounds and rips apart the Right as ex-home secretary Suella Braverman becomes latest Tory to jump ship to Reform – Daily Mail
• Braverman’s predictable defection is Farage’s biggest political gamble yet – Guardian
• Suella Braverman exclusive: ‘The Tories should not be anywhere near power again in my lifetime’ – Daily Telegraph

Comment

• The allure of Reform – Peter Mandelson, Spectator
• Suella’s defection was priced in. But it is still very dangerous for Kemi – Henry Hill, Daily Telegraph
• Two faces of Toryism – Rob Hutton, The Critic

Today

Starmer’s block on Burnham standing fuels further anger in Labour leadership wars

“Senior Labour figures have privately conceded that they expect to lose a vital by-election after Andy Burnham was blocked from standing. Some fear the party could be pushed into third place behind Reform and the Greens. Government insiders said Sir Keir Starmer had made a choice between almost certain defeat in Gorton & Denton and the greater risk of losing control of the Greater Manchester mayoralty if Burnham had been allowed to run. The fight for the seat is set to be deeply divisive. The Green Party will push for the pro-Gaza vote while Reform will pitch the contest as a chance for voters to punish Starmer. A Labour loss would increase internal pressure on the prime minister, after he decided to block Burnham’s candidacy. The party announced that the by-election would be held on February 26 in an attempt to minimise its political impact by decoupling it from Labour’s campaign for elections in Scotland, Wales and England in May. A senior government figure told The Times: “Realistically we know that we’re going to lose. But it was a question of what was worse: losing a by-election or losing control of Greater Manchester, which would have been a total disaster.” – The Times

• Burnham’s savage swipe at Starmer as Labour civil war rages – ‘we will lose!’ – Express
• Burnham rebellion grows: 50 Labour MPs sign letter to Starmer protesting against decision to block Manchester mayor – Daily Mail
• ‘The PLP are p***ed’: Labour infighting poses new threat to Starmer – The i
• The ruthless Labour machine that helped Starmer block Burnham – Daily Telegraph
• ‘He’s the one who has to pull the trigger’: threat of Streeting still looms over Starmer – FT
• Burnham will try again for Westminster return but declines offer of seat in ‘27 – Guardian
• Starmer has written Labour’s suicide note – Unherd
• Labour insiders admit they face a humiliating loss in ‘referendum on Starmer’ by-election – Express
• Operation Stop Burnham: How PM personally blocked rival’s bid for Westminster – The i

Comment

• There’s no great mystery to the Andy Burnham affair – Madeline Grant, Spectator
• Blocking Andy Burnham betrays more weakness – Trevor Philips, The Times
• On Labour’s soft left, the question isn’t whether to challenge Starmer, but when – Jessica Elgot, Guardian
• What happens next for Labour and Keir Starmer? – Oliver Wright, The Times

Today

French Human Right’s watchdog tells their police to stop using force on migrants

“Labour’s hopes of combating Channel migrant crossings have been dealt a blow after France’s human rights watchdog ordered French police to stop using aggressive tactics to intercept small boats. Claire Hédon, France’s defender of rights, has issued an unprecedented warning to the French government saying that the use of rubber bullets, tear gas and other methods of armed force was putting people in danger. In an 18-page document, she said that the tactics had contributed to deaths and serious injuries among migrants. Hédon, the most senior adviser to the French government on human rights, added in her report that there was “a lack of transparency” in the way officers treated migrants trying to reach the UK. The report, dated December 17 and which was leaked to the French newspaper Le Monde, said: “The objective of preventing departures is understandable given the danger of the crossing, and law enforcement plays a protective role, but this cannot be done at any cost.” She condemned the use of “rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades” against migrants and demanded that they be “excluded when the sole purpose of the security forces is to prevent people from boarding a boat”. – The Times

• French police told by their human rights watchdog to stop using rubber bullets and tear gas on UK-bound small boat migrants – putting Channel agreement in peril – Daily Mail
• Rwanda sues British Government over abandoned asylum plan, potentially hitting UK taxpayer with £50million bill – Daily Mail

US faces Chagos Islands nuclear weapons ban

“The US faces a ban on having nuclear weapons on Diego Garcia if the Chagos Islands deal goes ahead. Sir Keir Starmer’s deal could allow Mauritius to block the US from stationing nuclear weaponry at the base on the British island territory. The country is a signatory to the African nuclear weapon-free zone treaty, which prohibits “stockpiling, acquisition, testing, possession, control or stationing of nuclear weapons”. The Tories said the deal “would expressly prohibit” Mauritius from allowing the US to have “any nuclear explosive device at the Diego Garcia military base”. Lifting the ban would require the approval of every signatory to the treaty, which could take many years to negotiate. More than 50 African states have signed up to the agreement, which is recognised by the United Nations. The US has conducted exercises in the region with B-52 jets, nuclear-capable bombers that could be blocked from using the base. On Monday, Baroness Goldie, the Conservatives’ Lords defence spokesman, demanded in a letter to Baroness Chapman, a Foreign Office minister, that the Government provide clarity on how the deal would affect the base’s operations. She also asked whether the Government would pause the handover until Mauritius had “secured amendments” to the Pelindaba treaty.” – Daily Telegraph

France opposes EU plan to buy British Storm Shadows for Ukraine – Daily Telegraph

News in Brief

• Join me in lighting a candle to mark Holocaust Memorial Day – Sajid Javid, The Times
• Mega police forces won’t make Britain safer – Harry Phibbs, CapX
• The problem with Shabana Mahmood’s ‘British FBI’ – Dominic Adler, Unherd
• David Abulafia was a rare, truth-seeking historian – Nigel Biggar, Spectator