By Chloe Stewart
China has targeted a group of senior MPs with cyber attacks, it has been reported.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to inform Parliament of the wave of attacks, which are thought to be aimed at undermining UK democracy ahead of the election.
The Sunday Times reported that Parliament's director of security Alison Giles has called an urgent meeting with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) about the reported interference.
The government task-force, which monitors and scrutinises Beijing, includes former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory education minister Tim Loughton, cross-bench peer Lord Alton and SNP MP Stewart McDonald.
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In 2021, Duncan Smith, Loughton and Alton were subjected to sanctions by Beijing in a presumed act of retaliation after Ipac highlighted China's "gross human rights violations".
Foreign secretary David Cameron will also reportedly hold a meeting of the 1922 committee, where security and China are set to be the topics of discussion.
Cameron is thought to be updating government on the work of the Defending Democracy committee. The ministerial task-force was established to identify threats to UK democracy and election interference.
The final pre-Easter meeting of the committee was expected to be the one which took place last week. Last week's gathering was led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
At the meeting, Ipac executive director Luke de Pulford said on Friday: "About a year ago the Belgian and French foreign ministries publicly confirmed [Chinese state] sponsored cyber-attacks against our members.
“Other countries have done the same privately. Beijing has made no secret of their desire to attack foreign politicians who dare to stand up to them.”
The latest reports follow an investigation last year into democratic interference, with a report warning that China was targeting the UK "prolifically and aggressively".
The report stated that Britain was "playing catch up" when it came to security threats. It also said that China poses a huge threat to the UK's democracy and the country could face a "nightmare scenario" of China controlling its technology.
In 2023, a British parliamentary aide was arrested over allegations of spying.
Parliamentary researcher Chris Cash, who denied the allegation, worked for the China Research Group, which was established by security minister Tom Tugendhat.