Who is H6? Alleged Chinese spy might be named right this moment as strain mounts on Prince Andrew

An alleged Chinese spy linked with Prince Andrew could be named in the Commons today.

The man, who can only be identified as H6 in the UK, is claimed to have met two former Prime Ministers – David Cameron and Theresa May – and visited Buckingham Palace twice. The businessman was expelled from the UK last year amid claims he was gathering information for the United Front Work Department (UFWD) – an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

MPs are pressing for the chance to ask questions about H6 in Parliament. And Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has indicated that if this happens, his party is willing to naming him using Parliamentary privilege. This means an MP could name the alleged spy in the Commons and be immune from prosecution.

Pressure is mounting on Prince Andrew over his links to the alleged spy, with fresh questions about his judgement. Royals are claimed to be furious after he became embroiled in the fresh scandal, with the King reportedly considering banning him from appearing in public over Christmas.

It is claimed that the Duke of York could be barred from the royal family’s Christmas Day walk from Sandringham House to St Mary Magdalene church in Norfolk. Insiders have called on him to “do the decent thing” and voluntarily withdraw from public view, according to The Times.

H6, a 50-year-old businessman is alleged to have used his links with Prince Andrew to secure invites to high-profile events and royal residences. According to The Sunday Times he visited Buckingham Palace twice as the Duke’s guest, as well as attending events at St James’s Palace and Windsor Palace. He was described in court as having built up “an unusual degree of trust” with the royal. He is claimed to have met Lord Cameron at a Downing Street reception and Mrs May at a black tie event, and kept photos of each in his London office.

Tory shadow farming minister Robbie Moore said on Monday morning: “It’s not really for me to get involved in advising the royal family on what they should be advising Prince Andrew to do…But I think Prince Andrew would be wise, I suspect, just to sit back for a while.”

He is also reported to have travelled on a delegation to China in 2010 alongside former deputy PM John Prescott, who died last month. Former security minister Tom Tugendhat has said the allegations are the “tip of the iceberg”. He told BBC Breakfast: “I’m sure it’s happening now. I’m absolutely certain that there are members of the United Front Work Department who are active right now in attempting to influence journalism, academics, politics, and the whole lot. This is really the tip of the iceberg.

“And so the story I can understand why it’s been about Prince Andrew, but it’s not really about Prince Andrew. It’s about the way the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to exert influence here in the United Kingdom.”

Labour minister Jim McMahon this morning warned that Parliamentary privilege should be “exercised with caution”. He told Times Radio: “I think we have a privilege in Parliament, which is that we do have parliamentary privilege, and that should be exercised with caution, and the overriding public interest has to be maintained, of course.”

He went on: “It’s a concern for all of us that work in Parliament, that the trust has been breached in the way that it has, and that somebody has been found to slip through the net. That clearly is a concern. Whether or not that requires somebody being named in Parliament under parliamentary privilege, I think, is a separate matter.”

Tory backbencher Sir Iain Duncan Smith is reportedly pushing to ask a question in the Commons. If allowed, this could happen on Monday afternoon. On Sunday Home Office Dame Angela Eagle refused to say whether the affair is an embarrassment for the UK. She said: “I’m not going to comment on the internal issues with the royal family. I don’t think that’s appropriate.

“Everybody knows what’s happened. They know the actions that’s been taken and they can come to their own judgment.” Asked how much she could say about the individual, Dame Angela said: “I can’t tell you anything because, as you know, it is a security and intelligence issue and the courts have made some decisions about that, so currently he’s only known as H6, but the thing that we need to focus on is that he was thought to pose a threat to our security, especially with what he was doing in his friendship with Prince Andrew and therefore he was barred from coming back into the country.

“That’s the security services doing their job.” Asked why the man’s friendship with Andrew would be of use to a spy, she said spies are “not short-termists” and sometimes establish friendships with people of influence over “many, many years”.

The matter came to light when H6 brought an appeal against his exclusion to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac). This was thrown out, which judges saying former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was entitled to conclude that he represented a risk to the national security.

In a statement Prince Andrew’s team said: “The Duke of York followed advice from HMG and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised. The duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.”