A man in his 30s was arrested in Oxfordshire under the Official Secrets Act, amid allegations that a parliamentary researcher spied for China.

The arrest took place on March 13 and a second man in his 20s was also detained in Edinburgh on the same day, the Sunday Times has revealed.

The Metropolitan Police has refused to say where in Oxfordshire the arrest occurred.

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The researcher has had links to several senior Tory MPs, including security minister Tom Tugendhat and foreign affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, which oversees espionage-related offences, are investigating.

Both men were held on suspicion of offences under section one of the Official Secrets Act 1911, which punishes offences that are said to be “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state”.

“Searches were also carried out at both the residential properties, as well as at a third address in east London,” a statement from the force said.

Both men were held at a south London police station until being bailed until early October.

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Mr Tugendhat is said not to have had any contact with the researcher since before he became security minister in September last year.

Ms Kearns declined to comment, adding: “While I recognise the public interest, we all have a duty to ensure any work of the authorities is not jeopardised.”

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China pressure group said it was “appalled at reports of the infiltration of the UK Parliament by someone allegedly acting on behalf of the People’s Republic of China”.

A source close to Ms Kearns said: “It is inevitable the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would target and seek to undermine Parliament’s leading voices who have demonstrated the ability to constrain the CCP’s ambitions.”

 

They said that the allegations, if true, would be a “serious escalation and shows the CCP will go to any length to attack thorns in their side”.

The arrests emerged a little over a week after Foreign Secretary James Cleverly visited Beijing amid criticism from some senior Conservatives, who are critics of China.

He insisted the UK would have a “pragmatic” relationship with China to tackle major global issues such as climate change.