Tory MP claims GCHQ told him his Gmail account was safer than parliamentary email after he was targeted by hackers

A senior Tory MP has said he was told by sources at GCHQ that his personal Gmail account was safer than using his Parliamentary email after being repeatedly targeted by suspected Chinese hackers.

Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said the warning showed the need for both ministers and Parliament to take a more robust stance against Beijing’s attacks of British democracy.

The MP, who has previously revealed efforts by Chinese cyber hackers to access his accounts and impersonate him online, is one of seven Parliamentarians who have been sanctioned by China for calling out its actions in Hong Kong and against the Uighur minority in Xinjiang.

Mr Tugendhat revealed on Tuesday that the latest attack occurred last week, when emails, purportedly from him, were circulated which claimed he had resigned as chairman of the committee.

He believes he is the victim of Chinese “psyops” - psychological operations - which have occurred on several occasions in recent years in apparent attempt to discredit him professionally.

Calling on ministers and the Parliamentary authorities to take a tougher stance on Beijing’s attempts to silence critics, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I was told by friends at GCHQ - not formally, I admit - that I was better off sticking to Gmail rather than using the parliamentary system because it was more secure.

"Frankly, that tells you the level of security and the priority we are giving to democracy in the United Kingdom. What the British Government and Parliament has to respond to is defending freedom of speech in the UK.”

Addressing Mr Tugdenhat’s concerns, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, told MPs: “It is in the public interest that members should be able to speak... fiercely in raising issues of concern.

“This includes the chair of the foreign affairs select committee. People are democratically elected representatives and nothing should interfere in the democratic process.”

Separately, Parliamentary officials insisted the Westminster email system offered significantly greater protection than external providers, and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said MPs should continue to rely on it.

A parliamentary spokesman said: "We have robust cybersecurity measures in place and work closely with partners in the National Cyber Security Centre.

"In line with guidance from the NCSC we would always encourage MPs to use parliamentary emails, which offers significantly higher levels of security than external providers."

It came as Nigel Adams, the foreign minister with responsibility for China, told MPs that the Government "stands in complete solidarity with those sanctioned”.

Mr Adams added the Government would not allow the sanctions to "distract attention from the gross human rights violations" taking place.

However, Tim Loughton, a former minister who was also placed on the sanctions list, demanded assurances from ministers that no new agreements with China would take place while the sanctions remained in force.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, another on the sanctions list, said: “Given that China has sanctioned British politicians...surely is the time now for the Government...to say to China there can be no preferential trade, economic or commercial deals done whilst their own citizens are sanctioned.”