Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to impose sanctions on former RAF personnel involved in training Chinese Armed Forces without permission.

The Department has no evidence that anyone has breached the high threshold of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), but if any evidence were to be forthcoming, we would not hesitate to bring criminal charges. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) are engaging with the individuals already involved to ensure they are fully aware of the risk of prosecution under the OSA.

The Government's National Security Bill (led by the Home Office) will capture a range of relevant activity and provide additional possible routes to prosecution. The MOD are also conducting a review of the use of confidentiality agreements across Defence, with the aim of providing additional contractual levers to prevent individuals breaching security.