Joani Reid, the Labour MP who resigned the party whip after her husband was arrested on suspicion of spying for China, received a £2,400 donation from his company the previous month, it has emerged. The donation, declared in February, was for media training from Earthcott Ltd, the lobbying firm run by David Taylor.
Reid, MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, said she would relinquish the Labour whip pending an internal investigation, a day after Taylor was arrested by anti-terror police under the National Security Act. Two other men, Matthew Aplin and Steve Jones, were also arrested but later released on bail.
In a statement at the time, Reid said she had no involvement in her husband's business activities and had never spoken about Chinese matters or visited China. A source close to Reid said the donation from Earthcott was consistent with her statement, as receiving a donation from a business did not equate to involvement in its activities.
Taylor, a former special adviser to Labour peer Peter Hain, was bailed along with Aplin and Jones. Aplin previously worked as an adviser to Labour in Wales, while Jones advised former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones and former Labour chief whip Hilary Armstrong.
Separately, James Robinson, a former aide to ex-Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, said police searched his home as part of the same investigation. Robinson, founder of Woburn Partners and a former Guardian media correspondent, said he had not been detained or questioned.
