Chinese hackers accessed personal details of 40million UK voters

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to point the finger at Beijing for a cyber assault on the Electoral Commission in August 2021, which was made public last year

The UK Government is expected to call out China over cyber attacks

China will be blamed for a massive cyber attack on the UK elections watchdog, which saw hackers access personal details belonging to 40 millions voters.

Deputy PM Oliver Dowden is expected to point the finger at Beijing for the assault on the Electoral Commission in August 2021, which was only made public last year. The Government is said to be considering slapping sanctions on those involved, according to multiple reports.

The watchdog said that “hostile actors” had been able to gain access to electoral registers and it was unable to tell conclusively what information had been accessed.

However, it said it would be “very hard” for hackers to influence a vote as the UK’s electoral system is largely paper based. Mr Dowden will give a statement to Parliament later where he is expected to call out China over malicious cyber attacks and warn that MPs and peers who have been critical of Beijing have also been targeted.

Separately, a group of politicians who are hawkish on China are being summoned to a briefing by the Parliament’s security chiefs.

The four, who are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) pressure group, are former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton and SNP MP Stewart McDonald, according to the Sunday Times.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron will also address Tory backbenchers tonight at a meeting of the 1922 Committee.

It comes amid growing alarm over potential interference by China in Britain. Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, warned last year that espionage by Beijing was being conducted on an “epic scale”. He told the BBC at the time that more than 20,000 people had been approached online by Chinese spies.

Meanwhile, an explosive row erupted last September when a parliamentary researcher was arrested under the Official Secrets Act and accused of spying for Beijing. China has consistently denied accusations of espionage and wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, reforms of UK spying laws are continue to make their way through Parliament, with the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill also in the Commons on Monday.

The legislation includes measures to make it easier for agencies to examine and retain bulk datasets, such as publicly available online telephone records.