The audacious hack targeted Government servers holding thousands of confidential Home Office visa application records.
Sir Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2024 (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government has been accused of covering up a major Chinese cyber attack on the Foreign Office to avoid a diplomatic firestorm ahead of the Prime Minister’s high-stakes visit to Beijing. The audacious hack, which took place in October, targeted Government servers holding thousands of confidential Home Office visa application records managed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Details of the security breach only emerged on Friday following reports that attributed the hack to Storm-1849. The group is a notorious China-linked espionage outfit previously blamed by Western intelligence agencies for state-aligned hacking against democratic institutions.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith (Image: Getty)
Trade minister Sir Chris Bryant confirmed the incident in a series of broadcast interviews, admitting: “There certainly has been a hack at the FCDO, and we’ve been aware of that since October.” However, he sought to downplay the severity, insisting the breach was contained quickly. He added: “We’re very confident that in the investigation that we’ve done so far, that nobody, no individual, will have been harmed or compromised by what has happened.”
Sir Chris described some reporting as “speculation” and claimed it was “not clear” whether the breach was “directly related to Chinese operatives, or indeed the Chinese state.” This refusal to point the finger at Beijing has sparked fury among the Opposition, who claim ministers are prioritising diplomatic optics over national security.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel led the charge, accusing the Government of turning a “blind eye” to the threat to avoid embarrassing the Prime Minister. Posting on X, she said: “China undermines our security, institutions and democracy, but Labour is failing to protect Britain from China’s foreign interference in our country. Starmer kowtows to China at every opportunity and cannot be trusted to protect our national interest.”
The timing of the disclosure is particularly sensitive, as Sir Keir is set to become the first UK Prime Minister to visit China since 2018. The trip, scheduled for late January, is the centrepiece of Labour’s “reset” of UK-China relations, aimed at fostering economic growth despite warnings from security services.
Shadow Security Minister Alicia Kearns further accused Labour of a “deliberate cover-up.” She told MailOnline the Government hid the hack to “smooth the way for the Prime Minister’s upcoming jolly to Beijing” and to avoid further humiliation following the recent collapse of a high-profile court case against two alleged Chinese spies.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, was equally scathing, saying: “They know very well who has done this. It’s China. The reason they won’t say is because they have this absurd nonsense of Keir Starmer going over to visit China. China is playing us for idiots. We look foolish and pathetic that we cannot even call out a hack.”
The breach has heightened fears that sensitive details of Hong Kong passport holders and dissidents who fled to the UK could have been compromised. Luke de Pulford, co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, warned: “If visa application data was among the material accessed, the implications are especially grave, given the potential risks to dissidents who rely on the UK for protection.”
Storm-1849 was previously identified in early 2024, when ministers formally attributed cyberattacks on MPs and the Electoral Commission to China — a breach that exposed the data of 40 million voters.
This latest incident comes amid reports that the government is also set to approve a massive new Chinese “super embassy” in London, a move that security experts have warned could provide a permanent base for Chinese intelligence operations in the heart of the capital.
