Joani Reid, the Labour MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, has resigned the party whip following the arrest of her husband, David Taylor, on suspicion of spying for China. Reid announced on Thursday night that she would temporarily stand down while an internal Labour investigation takes place. The party confirmed she had been administratively suspended, which has the effect of suspending the whip.
David Taylor, a former special adviser to Labour peer Peter Hain, was arrested on Wednesday under the National Security Act along with two other men aged 43 and 68. Police said on Thursday they had been released on bail until May. Taylor has also been suspended from the Labour party pending an investigation. A Labour spokesperson said: 'These are incredibly serious allegations. We cannot comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.'
In a statement, Reid said: 'This week has been the worst of my life. I am not under investigation by the police and no accusations have been made against me. I have done nothing wrong.' She added: 'I do not want the circumstances that I and my family find ourselves in to be a distraction for this government. I am voluntarily suspending myself from the whip this evening and will not sit as a Labour MP until internal investigations are concluded.'
The three men were arrested by counter-terrorism officers at addresses in London and Wales. The homes of a journalist in Wales and a former Labour aide were also raided by police as part of the inquiries. Martin Shipton, 72, associate editor at the Nation Cymru website, described the raid as a 'Kafkaesque nightmare'.
Reid, a member of the home affairs committee, said she had never been to China and had never spoken on China-related matters in the Commons. The arrests come six months after the Crown Prosecution Service dropped charges against two men accused of spying for China, one of whom was a parliamentary aide who worked with two Tory MPs.
