A TORY minister has been slammed for joking that “some little man in China” might be listening to him and his wife on the phone.
Mark Spencer, who serves as the Minister for Food, made the remark as he tried to downplay the security concerns around the Home Secretary.
The UK Government has also been urged to launch an investigation following reports that Liz Truss’s phone was hacked.
Spencer told Sky News: “We all talk on our personal phones don’t we.
“When I ring my wife, maybe there’s some little man in China listening to my conversation between me and my wife.
"Maybe there's some little man in China listening to the conversation between me and my wife," Government minister Mark Spencer, tells Sky News. pic.twitter.com/BmfQxe44Ga
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) October 31, 2022
“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 on that.”
ITV News’ Paul Brand said on Twitter that one MP was “fuming” about the language which was used.
He said: “Conservative MP pretty fuming about this choice of language by Mark Spencer. ‘Little man in China’ and he is already under an ongoing investigation for telling a MP that her being Muslim is uncomfortable.’”
Multiple Labour MPs also hit out with Angela Eagle tweeting the shocked face emoji.
Conservative MP pretty fuming about this choice of language by Mark Spencer. “‘Little Man in China’ and he is already under an ongoing investigation for telling a MP that her being muslim is uncomfortable.” https://t.co/zPmldTrkeu
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) October 31, 2022
Elsewhere, Chris Elmore wrote “the state of this” whilst Chris Bryant said: “Little man? Honestly?”
Sarah Owen, the first MP of south-east Asian descent, tweeted: “Mark Spencer once again showing his ignorance.”
Spencer has been under inquiry for nearly a year after a Tory MP claimed she lost her job due to her Muslim faith.
Former transport minister Nusrat Ghani alleged in January a whip had told her “Muslimness was raised as an issue” and that her “Muslim woman minister status was making colleagues feel uncomfortable”.
Spencer, who was then chief whip, named himself as the minister she spoke to but said the claims were “completely false” and “defamatory”.
