A Nottinghamshire MP has joked that there is a "little man in China" listening to his phone conversations during an interview with Sky News. Conservative MP for Sherwood, Mark Spencer, made the 'joke' during the interview on Monday, October 31, over claims former Prime Minister Liz Truss's phone had been hacked.
Mr Spencer explained that all ministers used personal phones, but that he was careful in his conversations to never discuss government business. Following reports that the former PM's personal phone had been hacked by suspected agents of the Kremlin, ministers were warned never to conduct government business on their personal phones. This is due to them being more likely to be targets of hostile states, such as Russia, China and North Korea.
During his interview, Mr Spencer explained that ministers "do get quite a lot of briefing from the security services on what to do and what not to do". He said: "So, you know, it's quite important to get that right.
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"I don't want to comment too much on it because, of course, what I don't want to do is tell the world exactly what that briefing says. But you do get a lot of support when you become a Government minister on what is appropriate and inappropriate as a Government minister."
He continued: "We all talk on personal phones don't we. I ring my wife, maybe there's some little man in China listening to the conversation between me and my wife, but you know, you've just got to be careful about what information you use on which phone, and you get a lot of help and support from the security services as well.
"There's a lot of people that want to do this country harm, which is why you've got to be careful." However, Pauline Neville-Jones, former chairman of Britain's joint intelligence committee, said she was "not at all tolerant of the notion that it's OK for ministers to use private mobile phones".
However, Mr Spencer's comments have led to backlash. Sarah Owen, the first MP of south-east Asian descent, tweeted: “Mark Spencer once again showing his ignorance, on many levels.”
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