A senior Tory MP has revealed that she has installed panic buttons in every room of her home due to fears of countries such as China wants to “hurt” her.
Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, claims she was advised to install them after receiving death threats herself and threats against her children – both under four years old.
In an interview with GB News Ms Kearns, on air today, will reinforce her position that China, which she describes as a ‘hostile state’, is a ‘threat’ to the UK.
“The reality is that we are attacked every day by authoritarian states,” she claimed.
Ms Kearns was elected chair of the committee in October and has spoken out openly about the protective measures that MPs should take.
Alicia Kearns (pictured), chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, claims she was advised to install them after receiving death threats herself and threatening her children – both under the age of four
Ms Kearns was elected chair of the committee in October and has spoken out openly about the protection measures MPs should take
“There are MPs whose children are taken to school every morning by the police,” she said.
‘There are colleagues who are told they need police protection in their own constituency at all times, who have stalkers, who have people in balaclavas outside their offices.’
She said she was advised by security experts to install panic buttons for her family’s safety.
Ms Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Melton, claims Covid was ‘the authoritarian regime’s dream’ as people were forced to download trackable apps onto their phones.
Discussing the perceived ‘threat’ China poses to the UK, she said: ‘Exfiltrating our data is their priority alongside techno-authoritarianism, which is essentially bringing technologies into our lives that we become dependent and dependent on.
‘Because the more dependent we as a country are on China, the more castrated we are on the world stage.
“You can’t compete with China if you rely on them for technologies, if they have your data and if they have weaponized resources around the world. And so TikTok is a good example.’
During the interview, Ms. Kearns, who was involved in a successful bid to ban TikTok from government phones, discussed last year’s “Pork Pie Plot.”
The ‘Pork Pie Plot’ was an attempted coup by the Conservative MP to sack Boris Johnson.
Ms Kearns admitted to having been involved in discussions between Tory MPs over whether the former prime minister had ‘let the people of this country down’.
However, the only people informed to the media about the coup were herself and Dehenna Davison – the only two women in the room.
However, the only people informed to the media about the coup were herself and Dehenna Davison (pictured with Boris Johnson) – the only two women in the room
Ms Kearns rejected this, saying the treatment was ‘undoubtedly’ sexist.
“They talked about her love life, which was embarrassing, and they told me, the Whips’ office, that I was a bad mother for taking my daughter to Ukraine,” she added.
“At that time it was completely safe to take my daughter to Ukraine. But the fact that they did and that was the best they could think of me.
“I think there are serious questions to be asked about who made those decisions and why they thought it was appropriate in the first place.”
On the TikTok ban, Ms Kearns said users should uninstall the app as she suggested the video-sharing platform is linked to Chinaefforts to build a “technological totalitarian state.”
TikTok has long been concerned about its ties to China, as its parent company, ByteDance, was founded in the country and critics have expressed fears that data could be passed on to the Chinese state.
In December, TikTok executive Liz Kanter stressed that the platform has not been asked for UK user data by the Chinese government, and would not provide it if it were.
“The fact is that now I’m not just saying ‘I’m worried, delete it’, we have evidence that TikTok has been used to track down sources for journalists,” she added.
“That should worry everyone.”