Month: October 2022

Bob Chan told a news conference he was dragged onto the consulate grounds and beaten by men, leaving him with injuries requiring hospital treatment.

It comes after a British MP accused one of China’s most senior UK diplomats of being involved.

But consul-general Zheng Xiyuan has denied he attacked the protester.

Amid the growing row, China has claimed there were attempts at illegal entry.

Speaking at a news conference organised by several British MPs, Mr Chan, a Hongkonger, said he was left physically and mentally hurt by Sunday’s incident.

He described being beaten by masked men outside the consulate, some of whom he said were trying to take down a display of banners.

“I then found myself being dragged into the grounds of the consulate. I held on to the gates where I was kicked and punched, I could not hold on for long,” he said.

“I was eventually pulled onto the ground of the consulate. I felt punches and kicks from several men. Other protestors were trying to get me out of this situation, but to no avail.

“The attack only stopped when a man who turned out to be a uniformed officer from the Greater Manchester Police pulled me outside the gates.

“Let me say it again so I am clear: I was dragged into the consulate, I did not attempt to enter the consulate.”

Police in Manchester have said up to 40 protesters gathered outside the consulate – a smaller diplomatic office that is UK territory but cannot be entered without consent.

At about 16:00 BST, Greater Manchester Police said a group of men “came out of the building and a man was dragged into the consulate grounds and assaulted”.

“Due to our fears for the safety of the man, officers intervened and removed the victim from the consulate grounds,” a statement said.

Mr Chan spoke of his shock at the incident and told of his fear for family members still in Hong Kong.

“I am shocked because I never thought something like this could happen in the UK. I still believe the UK is a place where free speech and protest are basic human rights.

“No amount of violence or diplomatic pressure will change that. I am hurt physically and mentally,” he said.

The demonstrators – many of whom were from Hong Kong – were protesting as the ruling Communist Party congress began in Beijing.

In an interview with Sky News later on Wednesday, consul-general Zheng Xiyuan confirmed that he was present at the protest, but denied that he and his staff attacked people.

“I didn’t beat anybody. I didn’t let my people beat anybody. The fact is, the so-called protesters beat my people,” he said.

Footage captured at the scene appeared to show him pulling a protester’s hair.

When asked about this, he said he was trying to protect his colleagues who were threatened by the protester, adding: “He (the protester) was abusing my country, my leader. I think it’s my duty.”

A spokesperson for the consulate had said the protesters had “hung an insulting portrait of the Chinese president at the main entrance”.

Beijing later claimed its consulate staff were subjected to harassment and said there were attempts to enter the consulate grounds.

China has “made representations” to the UK government to increase protection for its diplomatic staff.

Meanwhile, the senior Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith criticised the UK government’s diplomatic response to the incident so far.

He told the news conference it had been “wholly inadequate… and I think I’m being slightly kind to them”.

Mr Duncan Smith described Foreign Office Minister Jesse Norman as having to be “dragged” to the despatch box in Parliament to respond to the situation.

He said a meeting between the UK and a Chinese official about Sunday’s incident resulted in “a gentle rap on the knuckles”.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said earlier the incident was “absolutely unacceptable, that the protests were peaceful and legal. They were on British soil and it is absolutely unacceptable for this kind of behaviour”.

“Now, my understanding is the Greater Manchester Police will be conducting an investigation into this and when I see the details of that investigation, I’ll then decide what more we might need to do on that,” he told Sky News.

Last year, a new visa system gave about 70% of Hong Kong’s population the right to live, work and study in the UK with a route to citizenship.

More than 100,000 people have arrived on the new visas, as Beijing’s influence over the former British colony increases and following the introduction of a controversial national security law.

After the extraordinary scenes at the Chinese consulate on Sunday, MPs from across the political divide are now pushing for the UK government to take a much tougher stance against Beijing.

The Manchester MP, Afzal Khan of Labour, said the actions of the diplomats had “crossed a red line”.

Conservative Iain Duncan-Smith said they revealed the long arm of the Chinese state. He expressed concern that the UK government was being cautious in its response for fear of provoking a “tit-for-tat” from a country with such strong economic clout.

The two agreed – as did Bob Chan – that Britain should expel the men involved, even if prosecutions aren’t possible because the attack happened on what is officially Chinese territory.

Greater Manchester Police have appealed to anyone with video evidence to upload it to their website, as they look at images from CCTV, mobile phones and officers’ body cameras – part of a “complex and sensitive inquiry”.

Sensitive it certainly is – with the impact it could have on relations between Britain and China.

The force says the investigation will “take time”, but many MPs says a quick and forceful message needs to be sent to China, as soon as the diplomats involved are identified.

Opposition MPs alleged some Tories were bullied and manhandled into voting with the government on fracking.

A minister denied the claim, but many Tory MPs ended the day feeling angry and let down by their own party.

Conservative MP Charles Walker said the situation was a “shambles”.

Visibly furious, he told the BBC there was “no coming back” for the government.

Later he added: “I expect the prime minister to resign very soon because she’s not up to her job.”

Downing Street started Wednesday believing the prime minister was on a more solid footing after the appointment of Jeremy Hunt as chancellor – and his decision to reverse much of Ms Truss’s mini-Budget – appeared to have calmed the markets.

She also survived Prime Minister’s Questions – the weekly question session with MPs – relatively unscathed.

However, things began to unravel for Ms Truss shortly afterwards.

It seens near impossible that this chaos can be bottled and buried. An implosion feels unavoidable, perhaps imminent.

The dysfunction is too profound, the outrage among Conservatives too deep-seated for any sense of serenity to be established for as long as Liz Truss is prime minister.

So, what could the prime minister do next?

She could decide the game is up – there is no indication, yet, that she is about to do that.

She could be told by her party the game is up – the level of discontent within it is huge.

Or she could attempt to continue.

Those still supportive of her point out, rightly, that finding an alternative prime minister quickly is difficult and even if this was pulled off it would be seen as absurd to many around the country.

And so the clamour for a general election would be deafening.

The life expectancy of a young government already deeply in peril is currently shortening by the day.

The chaos might yet deepen.

The prime minister was forced to hastily cancel a visit to an electronics manufacturer in order to have a meeting with Suella Braverman after her then-home secretary broke government data rules.

The BBC has been told Ms Braverman breached the ministerial code by sending a government document to someone not authorised to receive it.

In her resignation letter, Ms Braverman acknowledged there had been “a technical infringement of the rules”, adding: “I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility: I resign.”

However, she also took an angry swipe at the government by accusing it of breaking “key pledges” and failing to reduce immigration numbers.

Her departure makes Ms Braverman the shortest-serving home secretary since World War II – and comes less than a week after the resignation of Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor.

Grant Shapps – who Ms Truss had sacked as transport secretary six weeks ago – became the new home secretary.

Shortly after Mr Shapps arrived at the Home Office to start his new job, chaotic scenes began to play out in the Commons, where MPs were voting on fracking.

Labour had tabled a vote which, if passed, would give MPs a say on the government’s plans to bring back fracking.

Many Conservatives have spoken out against bringing back fracking but they were told that the vote was being regarded as a vote of confidence in the prime minister and the government.

This meant that if they did not side with the government they could be kicked out of the parliamentary party.

The government won the vote by 326 votes to 230, with the division list showing 40 Tory MPs did not vote.

Conservative MPs who did not back the government are facing “proportionate disciplinary action”, says No 10.

Downing Street said MPs were “fully aware” the vote was being regarded as a vote of confidence and added: “Those without a reasonable excuse for failing to vote with the government can expect proportionate disciplinary action.”

Labour MP Chris Bryant claimed some Conservative MPs had been physically manhandled in the voting lobbies to ensure they supported the government.

And a Labour shadow minister, Anna McMorrin, wrote on Twitter that she witnessed one Conservative MP “in tears being manhandled” in the voting lobby in Parliament.

However, Conservative MP Alex Stafford denied this, saying there had simply been a “frank and robust conversation” about his opposition to fracking.

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg also said he would not characterise the events as bullying.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford urged the PM to quit – party leader Nicola Sturgeon described Wednesday’s events as an “utter shambles” and called for a general election.

Fallout from the vote led to speculation that Chief Whip Wendy Morton – in charge of party discipline – and her deputy Craig Whittaker had left their posts.

Rumours were fuelled by government silence on the issue and at one point Mr Rees-Mogg told Sky News he was “not entirely clear” about the situation.

After a few hours, however, it emerged that both Ms Morton and Mr Whittaker were remaining in post.

Speaking outside the Carlton Club in London earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey praised Ms Morton for doing a “great job” on the fracking vote.

Responding to Charles Walker’s criticisms of Ms Truss, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries urged him to back the PM because “he helped to put her where she is”.

However, backbencher Sir Roger Gale suggested that “in a peculiar way” Ms Truss “might come out of it stronger”, referencing her appointment of Mr Shapps as home secretary.

Earlier in the day, it was revealed that one of Ms Truss’s most senior advisers has been suspended amid a formal investigation by the Propriety and Ethics Team, which is responsible for standards across government.

It followed some anger from Conservative backbench MPs about briefings to newspapers from No 10 sources over the weekend – including disparaging remarks about former health secretary Sajid Javid.

Former Brexit minister Lord David Frost – once an ally of Ms Truss – has called on the prime minister to go.

He argued in a piece in the Daily Telegraph that she was “implementing neither the programme Liz Truss originally advocated nor the 2019 manifesto”.

He added: “There is no shred of a mandate for this. It’s only happening because the Truss government messed things up more badly than anyone could have imagined.. something has to give”.

Ministers denied claims physical force had been used to persuade colleagues to vote with the government.

But Labour MP Chris Bryant called for an inquiry into what “looked like bullying”.

There had been suggestions earlier that Chief Whip Wendy Morton and her deputy had left their roles.

However, the government has confirmed that both MPs are staying in post.

One furious Tory MP described the chaotic events as a “shambles and a disgrace”.

Visibly shaken, senior Conservative MP Charles Walker said what he saw as “inexcusable” and there was “no coming back” for the government.

To Tory MPs who backed Liz Truss to be prime minister, Mr Walker said “I hope it was worth it”.

Speaking later to the BBC’s World Tonight, he said: “I expect the prime minister to resign very soon because she’s not up to her job.”

When asked about allegations made by MPs, Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told Sky News to “characterise it as bullying was mistaken”.

Mr Bryant spoke in the House of Commons after Labour lost a vote on banning fracking despite a Tory rebellion.

He said MPs should be able to vote “without fear or favour”, saying “we want to stand up against bullying”.

Labour had tried to use the vote to force the introduction of a law to ban fracking.

Tory whips ordered their MPs to vote against the motion or face being suspended, telling them it was a test of confidence in Ms Truss.

But the process was thrown into confusion at the last minute when Climate Minister Graham Stuart suggested it was not a confidence vote.

Chaotic scenes in the voting lobby followed, as whips tried to get Tory MPs to oppose the Labour motion.

The government won the vote by 326 votes to 230 – a government majority of 96.

The list on Parliament’s website, which shows how MPs vote, reveals that 40 Conservative MPs did not take part, including Ms Truss and Chief Whip Wendy Morton.

Labour shadow minister Anna McMorrin wrote on Twitter that she witnessed one Conservative MP “in tears” in the lobby after the vote.

Ms McMorrin tweeted: “Extraordinary stuff happening here during the vote on fracking which is apparently ‘not a confidence vote’.

“I’ve just witnessed one Tory member in tears being manhandled into the lobby to vote against our motion to continue the ban on fracking.”

Labour’s shadow secretary of state for Scotland, Ian Murray, said he witnessed “whips screaming at Tories” and described it as “open warfare”.

However, in a tweet one Conservative MP Alexander Stafford pushed back against the claims, saying he had a “frank and robust conversation outside the voting lobbies confirming my opposition to fracking, with members of the government, nothing more”.

“No one pushes me around,” he added.

The vote was the first parliamentary test of the government’s fracking plans, but was never likely to overturn government policy, given the size of the Conservatives’ majority.

“What we saw was the Chinese consul-general then ripping down posters and peaceful protest,” Alicia Kearns told MPs in the House of Commons.

MPs in Parliament have privilege, allowing them to speak freely without fear of legal action.

China has not commented on Zheng Xiyuan’s alleged involvement.

But the foreign ministry in Beijing defended the actions of consulate staff.

Spokesman Wang Wenbin said people had “illegally entered” the grounds and any country’s diplomats would have taken “necessary measures” to protect their premises.

In a tweet, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “I’ve ordered the summoning of the Chinese chargé d’affaires to demand an explanation for the shocking scenes outside the Chinese consulate-general in Manchester on Sunday.

“Peaceful protest is a fundamental right in Great Britain and the Chinese government must respect that.”

The UK said that a meeting was held with China’s chargé d’affaires – the ambassador’s deputy – Yang Xiaoguang, where it was reiterated that all diplomats and consular staff based in the UK must respect the UK’s laws and regulations.

The official Chinese version of what happened is at odds with video footage and statements from police. Officers had to drag back a protester from inside the consulate gate as he was being attacked.

Earlier, Ms Kearns told MPs that after Consul-General Zheng Xiyuan ripped down the placards, there was “grievous bodily harm against a Hongkonger, one of whom was hospitalised for taking part in a peaceful protest.

“Some were then dragged onto consulate territory for a further beating by officials who have been recognised to be members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“We cannot allow the CCP to import their beating of protesters, their silencing of free speech and their failure to allow time and time again protests on British soil. This is a chilling escalation.”

According to a statement by the Greater Manchester Police, around 30 to 40 people had gathered outside the consulate to protest.

“Shortly before 4pm a small group of men came out of the building and a man was dragged into the consulate grounds and assaulted,” the statement said.

“Due to our fears for the safety of the man, officers intervened and removed the victim from the consulate grounds.”

The consulate is UK territory, but cannot be entered without consent.

Another MP, Labour’s Afzal Khan – who represents the constituency where the consulate is, Manchester Gorton – told the House of Commons he was “sickened” by the scenes.

“The UK stands for freedom, the rule of law, and democracy,” said the Labour MP. “The quashing of peaceful protests will never be tolerated on British soil.”

Mr Khan and other MPs called for the consul-general to be declared a “persona non grata” – meaning a person who is unwelcome in the country.

Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith asked if the government would “be prepared to expel the consul-general and any of those that are found to have been part of that punishment beating and the vandalism?”

Some MPs called for the Foreign Office to go further, including Labour’s Andrew Gwynne who said: “Had these incidents happened on the streets of Hong Kong, there would have been outrage from the British government, rightly so.

“They happened on the streets of Manchester and yet we have this situation where the minister is basically sending a memo to the Chinese embassy, an offer of a cup of tea and a chat with the ambassador.”

Jim Watson was testifying at a public inquiry looking into whether it was warranted for Canada to invoke emergency powers to end the protests.

The so-called Freedom Convoy protests began at the end of January and gridlocked Ottawa for three weeks.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on 14 February.

The Public Order Emergency Commission began six weeks of hearings last week to examine the Trudeau government’s decision to invoke the federal act, the circumstances that led to that declaration, and the measures put in place by Ottawa to clear the anti-vaccine mandate and anti-government protests.

Invoking the law requires that a formal inquiry be held.

The hearings have given a behind-the-scenes look at the confusion and frustration between the municipal, provincial and federal governments as well as local police as they sought a solution to end the protests.

In his testimony, Ottawa’s Mayor Watson said his city had “lost control” of the protest site and that Ottawa police were outnumbered.

At the time, Mr Watson had called Mr Trudeau and the federal ministers of public safety and emergency preparedness to ask for help.

“Show me the Mounties,” Mr Watson said, according to a call transcript, requesting more Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the ground to help control the protests.

Last week the inquiry heard from two Ottawa residents who detailed “extensive” effects of living in the city during the three-week protest, including the constant noise of idling trucks and honks that interrupted sleep, harassment over face masks and the loss of city services because of the gridlock.

It has also heard that police and city officials were warned early on by a local hotel group that protesters were planning an extended stay. Demonstrators made inquiries about booking hotel rooms for 30 days or more and had suggested they planned to block access to the city.

City officials and police, however, thought protesters would leave after the first weekend.

The “Freedom Convoy” arrived in the city on 28 January and was cleared by police over the weekend of 18 February.

It gridlocked much of Ottawa’s city centre with hundreds of heavy trucks at the time – a protest deemed an illegal blockade by police and the federal government – while smaller, shorter-lived protests blocked two key US-Canada border crossings.

The Trudeau government has insisted that the use of the Emergencies Act – for the first time since it became law in 1988 – was a necessary “last resort” to deal with unprecedented protests.

In his testimony, Mr Watson said he believed the city needed the law or else it “would have been at a stalemate for several more weeks”.

The inquiry is expected to hear from some 65 witnesses over the coming weeks, including Mr Trudeau.

A final report on the findings will be released early next year.

The PM told Eurosceptic backbenchers she was still committed to boosting growth through economic reforms, No 10 sources said.

She has been meeting MPs to appeal for support, with her authority undermined after she abandoned flagship tax cuts.

She will appear at PMQs for the first time since the U-turns later.

This is only the third time since taking office that Ms Truss will face PMQs and it will be a crucial test of her leadership.

Her performance will be closely watched, particularly after she faced accusations of avoiding MPs on Monday after rejecting a request to explain her U-turns in the Commons.

Some Tory MPs have been talking privately about how she might be ejected from office, despite party rules preventing a formal challenge for a year.

But cabinet ministers have been calling for unity, saying that Ms Truss had been right to jettison her plans to ensure economic stability.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tore up most of last month’s mini-budget on Monday, leaving Ms Truss’s economic agenda in tatters after weeks in No 10.

In an attempt to rally support among her MPs, she hosted backbenchers at Downing Street on Tuesday evening and separately met the European Research Group (ERG) of Brexiteer MPs, an influential group on the right of the party.

After the ERG meeting, the prime minister’s deputy press secretary told reporters she had expressed her “disappointment” at “not being able to follow through on the tax cuts”.

“She said she found it painful and that she did it because she had to,” the press secretary added.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, a Tory backbencher who attended the No 10 meeting, said those in attendance were “very blunt about where we feel we are”.

Adding that “a lot of where we’re going is what I want to hear,” he warned colleagues against ejecting Ms Truss, calling it a “recipe for disaster”.

“I think changing horses at this stage would just be ridiculous,” he added.Ms Truss told cabinet ministers at a meeting on Tuesday that difficult decisions lie ahead

Ms Truss also told the ERG group she stood by her commitment to increase defence spending to 3% by 2030.

The target – a key plank of her Tory leadership pitch – is a red line for Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, according to his allies.

However, she has not ruled out further tax hikes and spending cuts to provide further reassurance to investors of her commitment to control UK debt.

All government departments have been told to find savings, ahead of a further economic statement by Mr Hunt on 31 October.

Ms Truss has not ruled out raising working-age benefits below inflation to save billions from the social security budget, despite coming under pressure from Tory MPs to guarantee a rise in line with prices.

On Monday, her spokesman also said she was no longer committed to ensuring the state pension keeps pace with inflation, despite making the commitment two weeks ago.

Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland has said: “I think the more the Conservative Party change leaders, the stronger the case for a general election comes.”

Labour wants the Tory party to “chop and change another leader” but an early election “serves nobody any good”, he said, speaking on BBC Newsnight.

“Not least the Conservative Party and certainly not the country.”

Five of the PM’s own MPs have called publicly on her to resign, with others briefing journalists that they think her time in office is up.

Tactics reportedly under consideration to oust her include submitting no-confidence letters in an attempt to force her into resigning.

There has also been speculation some MPs could push party bosses into changing the rules to allow an early leadership challenge.

However, there is little agreement over who should take over from Ms Truss if she is removed.