UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat Warns ‘Democracy Under Attack’ After MPs’ Phones Warning

Tom Tugendhat during the Conservative Party annual conference at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, England, on Oct. 3, 2022. Jacob King/PA Media

Security minister Tom Tugendhat has warned that democracy is “under attack” by hostile states—thought to be Russia, Iran, and China—after MPs were warned by the speaker of the House of Commons their mobile phones were a “potential goldmine for hostile states.”

Tugendhat’s remarks follow advice given to MPs by the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, which emanated from the government’s National Cyber Security Centre.