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Kate Plummer
Oct 31, 2022
Tory minister says there may be ‘a little man in China’ listening …
Indy
A minister is facing criticism for using the words "some little man in China" in an interview.
Speaking on Sky News today, minister for food Mark Spencer used the comments when speaking about reports about Liz Truss's personal phone being hacked by suspected Kremlin agents.
He said: "We all talk on personal phones, don’t we, you know?
“I ring my wife, maybe there’s some little man in China listening to the conversations between me and my wife.
“But, you know, you’ve just got to be careful about what information you use on which phone and you get a lot of help and support from the security services on that.”
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\u201cKamali Melbourne: The concern was Liz Truss was talking on her personal phone\n\nMark Spencer(Minister for food) - \u201cWe all talk on personal phones don\u2019t we. When I ring my wife, maybe there\u2019s some little man in China listening to my conversation between me & my wife."\n\n#KayBurley\u201d— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1667201604
It comes after The Mail on Sunday reported that Kremlin agents who hacked Truss’s phone while she was foreign secretary are thought to have gained access to sensitive exchanges on Ukraine, as well as private conversations with Kwasi Kwarteng.
Reacting his comments, people thought he had been inappropriate.
\u201c@AdamBienkov "Little man in China"...\n\nChrist :/\u201d— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1667202793
\u201c@AdamBienkov They are just truly awful this lot. #GeneralElectionNow\u201d— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1667202793
\u201cConservative MP pretty fuming about this choice of language by Mark Spencer. \n\n\u201c\u2018Little Man in China\u2019 and he is already under an ongoing investigation for telling a MP that her being muslim is uncomfortable.\u201d\u201d— Paul Brand (@Paul Brand) 1667203476
Labour MP Sarah Owen told Huffington Post: “Mark Spencer once again showing his ignorance, on many levels.
“Clearly government ministers like Mark Spencer do not understand the severity of the now repeated Conservative security breaches and that no amount of deflecting, even by throwing out the crass and archaic ‘little Chinese man’ trope, will distract us from the fact the PM chose to re-hire Braverman just six days after a ministerial code violation to one of the most sensitive positions of state."
People should really think before they speak.
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