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 last 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 along with two other men. In a statement, Reid denied any involvement in her husband’s business activities, stating she had never spoken about Chinese matters or visited China, and had not seen anything to suggest he had broken the law.
A source close to Reid said Earthcott paid for the media training, and that receiving a donation from a business was not the same as being involved in its activities. Taylor, 39, was released on bail, as were Matthew Aplin, 43, and Steve Jones, 68. 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.
Reid said: “This week has been the worst of my life. I want to reiterate something very important: I am not under investigation by the police and no accusations have been made against me. I have done nothing wrong.”
Taylor, a former special adviser to Labour peer Peter Hain when he was secretary of state for Wales, has since worked as a lobbyist with Earthcott. Separately, James Robinson, a former aide to Tom Watson, said police searched his home as part of the same investigation. Robinson, who was not arrested, said: “I have neither been detained, arrested nor questioned in connection with this.”
