A stunning intelligence scandal is unfolding in the UK as former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings claims China accessed some of Britain’s most highly classified government documents for years — simply by buying the data center responsible for handling them.
According to Cummings, who served under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, senior civil servants confirmed in 2020 that the Chinese government had full visibility into ultra-sensitive communications — including material from the National Security Secretariat and UK intelligence services — because Whitehall was using a file-transfer system hosted in infrastructure owned by a China-linked firm.
“I was in the room when it was said,” Cummings told a forthcoming podcast, calling the breach a “sci-fi novel that no one would believe.” But rather than address the issue, he alleges officials were warned that discussing the incident was “illegal,” effectively silencing any internal dissent or public disclosure.
Multiple sources, including a former security minister and four other insiders, have reportedly corroborated Cummings’ claims to British media outlets. The Spectator reports that the leak was described internally as a “stratospheric f***-up.”
Despite these revelations, the Cabinet Office has denied any compromise, insisting that “it is untrue to claim that the systems we use to transfer the most sensitive government information have been compromised.”
The scandal follows the abrupt collapse of a spy trial involving two alleged Chinese agents, reportedly derailed because the UK government was unwilling to legally label China as an “enemy” — a requirement for prosecution. Critics now claim that the government’s refusal to confront Beijing may have undermined national security and jeopardized international alliances like the Five Eyes intelligence network.
Brexit leader Nigel Farage has warned the U.S. may lose trust in Britain’s cyber defense, stating: “America has been concerned about our weakness on China ever since the Huawei fiasco in 2020.”
As scrutiny intensifies, the British public is left wondering: how deep does the breach go — and who, if anyone, will be held accountable?
