A four-year inquiry by MPs exposes the scale of China’s ‘existential threat’ to Britain

Kim Sengupta examines the disturbing findings of the intelligence committee report into espionage by Beijing

Is anyone listening? The proposed site for the new Chinese embassy near Tower Bridge in London (Reuters)

The charges against the government are scathing.

Britain is facing a “nightmare scenario” of China carrying out a systematic intelligence assault on almost every strategic sector against “completely inadequate” defences.

The findings conclude that the UK’s core liberal democratic system is in danger. And that security has been sacrificed for perceived economic gains and the country “severely handicapped” by a short-term approach that is a “serious failure… one that the UK may feel the consequences of for years to come”.