Christine Lee, Barry Gardiner and the labour movement

Submitted by AWL on 18 January, 2022 - 5:46 Author: Mohan Sen
Christine Lee and Barry Gardiner

The media is awash with stories about the fact that lawyer Christine Lee, who has links with many politicians and has donated almost £600,000 to the office of Labour MP Barry Gardiner, has been revealed as an operative of the Chinese state’s “United Front Work Department”. (The donations to Gardiner became public two years ago; there is no suggestion he has broken any law or rule.)

The "United Front" organisation exists to strengthen and spread Chinese political influence in other countries.

Contrary to some claims in the media, Lee seems to be more like a lobbyist than a spy. (Of course China very likely does have actual spies in the UK – just as the UK very likely does in China.)

Some of the coverage emphasises Lee's connections to the Labour Party, downplaying her strong connections to Conservative politicians. There is also an attempt to target the left by linking Barry Gardiner to Jeremy Corbyn. This is not totally unjust, since Gardiner was promoted by Corbyn and bizarrely seems to be regarded by many "Corbynites" as a hero. However, he is fundamentally a skilfully opportunistic right-winger, who served loyally as a minister under Tony Blair.

What issues does the Lee/Gardiner case raise for the labour movement?

Many Labour politicians – some union leaders too – display a remarkable lack of basic democratic, let alone labour-movement or socialist principles in whom they support and ally with. Gardiner in particular does appear to have generally pursued a pro-Beijing political line – for instance describing state suppression of the democracy movement in Hong Kong as “the escalation of violence between protestors in Hong Kong and ordinary people in Hong Kong” (on the Today programme, December 2019, cited in the New Statesman).

But he has been far more active supporting the far-right regime of Narendra Modi in India. This has not been mentioned in any of the recent coverage I have seen.

The left must fight the Chinese government's reactionary political influence (like that of other right-wing governments), while also opposing and fighting anti-Chinese paranoia and agitation and any targeting of Chinese people in the UK for being Chinese. In the US such paranoia has led to a targeting of Chinese-background academics for alleged disloyalty. In addition, the idea that states and governments act fundamentally because of foreign lobbyists or fifth columnists is a reactionary conspiracy theory.

The dominant right-wing media and political narratives about this case also ignore British corporations, for instance HSBC, supporting repression in China. Capitalists back repressive states not fundamentally because of being somehow subverted, but because of the nature of capitalism - making calculations that repression will benefit profits.

In terms of the connections of politicians, the problem is political parties, sections of political parties and a political elite who “move among”, share the interests of and work to support capitalists and the rich. The labour movement and left need to reassert working-class representation and working-class politics - against the Tories, the open Labour right and chameleons like Gardiner.

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.