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Best of the Spectator

Spectator Out Loud: Cindy Yu, Charlie Taylor and Petroc Trelawney

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

News, Daily News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.3826 Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2023

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Cindy Yu tells the story of how she got to know Westminster’s alleged Chinese agent and the astonishment of seeing herself pictured alongside him when the story broke (01.12), Charlie Taylor, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, talks breakouts, bureaucracy and stabbings, and wonders – where have all the inspirational leaders gone? (06.45), and Petroc Trelawney shares his classical notebook and describes a feeling of sadness as the BBC Proms wraps up for another year (11.54).

Produced and presented by Linden Kemkaran.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

The Spectator magazine combines incisive political analysis with books and arts reviews of unrivaled authority. Absolutely free. Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher.

0:29.7

Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud with me, Lyndon Ken Cairn.

0:34.6

Each week we choose our favourite pieces from the magazine and ask our writers to read them aloud.

0:40.4

Coming up on the podcast this week, Cindy Yu tells a story of how she got to know Westminster's alleged Chinese agent

0:47.4

and the astonishment of seeing herself pictured alongside him when the story broke.

0:52.5

Charlie Taylor, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons,

0:55.2

talks breakouts, bureaucracy and stabbing and wonders, where have all the inspirational

1:01.0

leaders gone? And Petroc Trilani shares his classical notebook and describes a feeling of sadness

1:07.0

as the BBC Proms wraps up for another year. First, it's Cindy Yu.

1:12.2

On Monday, I was surprised to discover a photo of myself in the papers,

1:16.8

next to a parliamentary researcher who had been arrested on suspicion of being a Chinese agent.

1:22.5

The photo was taken in February at a panel in Parliament entitled Defeating the Dictators. The man and I are both

1:29.3

20-something China Watchers who work in Westminster. I'd got to know him in a professional capacity,

1:34.3

but every so often we had a drink together or hung out at a friend's flat. It was only when I saw

1:39.0

reports of his arrest that I realised I hadn't heard from him since an evening six months ago,

1:43.8

when we teamed up to play code names,

1:46.0

the board game in which rival Spymasters raced to rendezvous with their agents.

1:50.7

We smashed the other team.

1:52.9

According to reports, he and a second man in his 30s were arrested in March.

1:57.4

He has not yet been charged and has protested his innocence.

2:02.3

Given what has been reported,

2:07.6

it is vital that it is known that I am completely innocent. I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party,

...

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