The Palace of Westminster, that Gothic pile on the banks of London’s Thames River serving as the seat of the British Parliament, has experienced almost everything: plots to blow up a king, the murder of a prime minister, as well as being a venue of choice for gambling, and every possible – as well as quite a few improbable – sex scandals. Still, the Parliament faces a novel experience: a spy story.

It’s not Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple or Ian Fleming’s James Bond; the current plot is thin, consisting of a junior parliamentary researcher arrested on suspicion of spying for China. The young man denies all accusations and, almost half a year after his initial arrest, is yet to be formally charged.