Joani Reid and her husband, David Taylor. Composite: UK ParliamentView image in fullscreenJoani Reid and her husband, David Taylor. Composite: UK ParliamentChina spying case: Labour MP received £2,400 donation from husband’s firm Joani Reid denies any involvement in business activities of spouse, who was arrested last week by anti-terror police
Joani Reid, the MP who resigned the Labour whip last week after her husband was arrested on suspicion of spying for China, received a donation from his company the month before, it has emerged.
Reid, who said after the arrest that she had no involvement in her husband’s business activities, declared a donation in February worth £2,400 for media training from Earthcott Ltd, the lobbying company run by David Taylor.
The East Kilbride and Strathaven MP said she would relinquish the Labour whip pending an internal Labour investigation, a day after Taylor was arrested by anti-terror police under the National Security Act along with two other men.
In a statement at the time, Reid said she had never spoken about Chinese matters or visited China, and had not seen anything to make her believe her husband had broken the law. She added: “I am not part of my husband’s business activities.”
A source close to Reid said Earthcott paid for the media training, and that her statement was consistent with the declaration, as receiving a donation from a business was not the same as being involved in its activities.
Taylor, 39, was released on bail, as were the other two men arrested, Matthew Aplin, 43, and Steve Jones, 68.
Aplin previously worked as an adviser to Labour in Wales. Jones was an adviser to the former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones, and to Hilary Armstrong, the former Labour chief whip.
Reid’s statement said: “This week has been the worst of my life. The shock of recent days has been difficult for me and my family.
“I want to reiterate something very important: I am not under investigation by the police and no accusations have been made against me. I have done nothing wrong.”
Taylor was a former special adviser to the Labour peer Peter Hain when he was the secretary of state for Wales, and has since been a lobbyist with Earthcott, his own company.
On Friday, James Robinson, a former aide to the ex-Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, said police searched the home he shares with his wife, former Labour MP Gloria De Piero, as part of the same investigation.
Robinson, the founder and director of Woburn Partners and a former media correspondent for the Guardian, said: “I would like to make it absolutely clear that I have neither been detained, arrested nor questioned in connection with this, or any other matter.”
