Bail extended for three suspects arrested on suspicion of spying for China

Margaret Davis, Press Association Crime Correspondent

Three people arrested on suspicion of spying for China have had their police bail extended until August.

David Taylor, 39, the husband of Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid, and two other men, aged 43 and 68, were held on March 4 on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

The Metropolitan Police did not name the suspects, but said on Wednesday they had been rebailed until August.

Ms Reid voluntarily suspended herself from the Labour Party in March until the investigation is concluded.

She said she had never seen anything to make her suspect Taylor, who was listed as a “lobbyist” on her registered interests, had broken the law.

Taylor was arrested in London, the 43-year-old man was arrested in Pontyclun in South Wales, and the 68-year-old was arrested in the county of Powys in mid-Wales.

Other properties in London, East Kilbride in Scotland, and Cardiff were also searched.

At the time of the arrests, security minister Dan Jarvis told MPs Chinese officials in the UK and Beijing had been given a dressing down, and that the investigation relates to “foreign interference targeting UK democracy”.