A man who was arrested for allegedly spying for China travelled through south-east Asia with a member of the Royal Family.
David Taylor, the husband of East Kilbride MP Joani Reid, was one of three men arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act on Wednesday and bailed the following day.
The Labour MP says she is not under investigation and has “never seen anything to make me suspect” her husband has broken any law.
Ms Reid resigned the party whip on Thursday night until internal investigations are concluded.
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A resurfaced photo from 2016 shows her husband, who in was appointed head of programmes at Asia House, a think tank dedicated to fostering engagement between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, on a trip to south-east Asia with Princess Beatrice, daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Mr Taylor and the princess were part of a nine-day trip to health projects in Nepal, India and Bhutan with the Franks Family Foundation, a charity of which the royal is a patron.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Princess Beatrice or the charity.
Franks Family Foundation told the i newspaper: “Princess Beatrice has worked tirelessly for the foundation for over a decade supporting our education and public health projects in Laos, Cambodia and Nepal, to which she has travelled on many occasions for the foundation.
“On one of those trips Princess Beatrice accompanied a team of doctors across Nepal, India and Bhutan. David Taylor, who was a policy advisor for the foundation, was also on that trip.”
It’s understood she did not know Mr Taylor and has not seen him since.
Her father, the former Prince Andrew, has faced scrutiny for his own links to an alleged Chinese spy.
Yang Tengbo, a businessman from Yunnan, was barred from the UK by the Home Office in 2024 following allegations he was using his relationship with the prince to spy for Beijing.
He denies the allegations, saying any description of him as a spy is “entirely untrue”, and pinning his banning on an “anti-China stance” by British authorities.
Prince Andrew, who is now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor having had his royal titles removed, said he had ceased all contact with Mr Yang, had only met him “through official channels” and never discussed anything of a sensitive nature.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com ’
