Who is H6? Everything we learn about alleged Chinese spy who was shut confidant of Prince Andrew | EUROtoday
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An alleged Chinese spy on the coronary heart of the most recent scandal to engulf Prince Andrew has been barred from the UK as a result of he was prone to pose a menace to nationwide safety.
The businessman, who preferred to divide his time between China and UK – calling it his “second home” – had beforehand been granted indefinite go away to stay in Britain the place he established himself as an in depth confidant of the Duke of York.
He is claimed to have used his excessive profile connection to safe invites to Buckingham Palace and different royal residences, with contemporary reviews now alleging he additionally met two former prime ministers.
The Sunday Times claims that he met David Cameron at a Downing Street reception and Theresa May at a black-tie occasion, protecting pictures of each encounters, which befell over the past 15 years, in his London workplace. It is unclear whether or not the conferences befell whereas both was in workplace.
However, he was expelled from Britain in 2023 by then-home secretary Suella Braverman, with the Home Office saying he was thought-about to have engaged in “covert and deceptive activity” on behalf of the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which is an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state equipment.
The Chinese businessman introduced a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), however this was dismissed on Thursday with judges ruling Ms Braverman had been “entitled to conclude” that he “represented a risk to the national security”.
An interim anonymity order is in place for the businessman, who is understood solely as H6. However, Reform UK chief Nigel Farage has threatened to make use of parliamentary privilege to call the suspected Chinese spy.
Parliamentary privilege gives authorized immunity for MPs in instances akin to this if he had been to disclose the title of the businessman within the House of Commons.
Mr Farage informed the Mail on Sunday that H6 must be “named immediately”, saying {that a} failure to take action “smacks of an establishment cover up”. He added: “If it’s not resolved in the courts, he should be named in the Commons. It’s clearly in the national interest.”
Labour MP Graham Stringer informed the paper that it was “ludicrous” for H6 to stay nameless “in the country he was allegedly spying on”.
Former Tory chief Sir Iain Duncan Smith is believed to be looking for a Commons debate on H6’s alleged actions, regardless of the parliamentary conference that MPs keep away from discussing the affairs of senior members of the royal household. Sir Iain informed mentioned that parliament has a “right to know” as a result of the Royals are on the prime of the federal government.
A letter from Dominic Hampshire, a senior advisor to Andrew, emphasised the particular nature of H6’s relationship with the royal household after he was invited to the duke’s party in 2020.
It mentioned: “I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family.
“You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship… Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.”
However, Dame Angela Eagle refused to say whether or not the revelation that an alleged spy had developed hyperlinks with the Duke of York was a humiliation for the UK as she insisted safety providers had been “always vigilant” round potential espionage.
The Home Office minister informed Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I’m not going to comment on the internal issues with the royal family. I don’t think that’s appropriate.
“Everybody is aware of what’s occurred. They know the actions that is been taken and so they can come to their very own judgment.”
Asked how much she could say about the individual, Dame Angela said: “I am unable to inform you something as a result of, as you recognize, it’s a safety and intelligence concern and the courts have made some choices about that, so at the moment he is solely often known as H6, however the factor that we have to concentrate on is that he was thought to pose a menace to our safety, particularly with what he was doing in his friendship with Prince Andrew and subsequently he was barred from coming again into the nation. That’s the safety providers doing their job.”
Asked about reports that the man had met Lord David Cameron and Baroness Theresa May and has his picture taken with them, Dame Angela said “images aren’t essentially any extra significant than images”.
“We all get photographed with lots of people in political jobs, and we meet many, many individuals, however I feel that is why our safety providers are at all times vigilant and that is the day job that we pay them to do,” she said.
Asked why the man’s friendship with Andrew would be of use to a spy, she said spies are “not short-termists” and sometimes establish friendships with people of influence over “many, a few years”.
On Friday, a statement from Andrew’s office said: “The Duke of York adopted recommendation from His Majesty’s Government and ceased all contact with the person after considerations had been raised.
“The duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.”
A spokesman for Lady May mentioned: “Baroness May and her husband, Sir Philip, are photographed at numerous events in any given year; as such, she doesn’t remember when or where this particular photograph was taken or the man in question.”
It is the most recent of a string of controversies for Andrew, most notably his shut friendship with convicted paedophile Jeff Epstein, who died in 2019.
The duke was accused by Virginia Giuffre (nee Roberts) of getting intercourse along with her on three events whereas she was solely 17. Ms Giuffre says Epstein paid her $15,000 {dollars} to have intercourse with Andrew.
But Andrew says he has no recollection of ever assembly Ms Giuffre and that he had “absolutely no memory” of a photograph by which his hand is round her waist. Andrew has at all times vehemently denied the allegations.
In November 2019, Andrew famously informed a BBC Newsnight interview that he couldn’t have had intercourse with Ms Giuffre on 10 March 2001, as a result of he was together with his daughters after visiting a Pizza Express department in Woking.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/who-is-h6-prince-andrew-chinese-spy-nigel-farage-b2664841.html