David Lammy: ‘We spy on other countries’

The name’s Lammy, David Lammy. With Labour cruising in the polls, all signs point to the Shadow Foreign Secretary taking over at King Charles Street. And along with Chevening and 1 Carlton Gardens, comes responsibility for the Secret Intelligence Service and the nation’s overseas spooks. So Mr S was surprised upon tuning into LBC last night to hear Lammy say the following about allegations of a Chinese spy at the heart of Westminster:

We will find out, as this investigation follows all its leads, to how serious it got on this occasion. It is true to say that, you know, countries spy on one another and we spy on other countries, that is true.

The work of MI5 and MI6 is well-known of course. But should HM Opposition’s spokesman on foreign affairs really be declaring that ‘we spy on other countries’? It wasn’t so long ago that Mrs Thatcher was denying that GCHQ even existed.