Uni recruits will need MI5 clearance in bid to weed out Chinese spies & stop hostile states stealing sensitive research

UNIVERSITY boffins could soon need security clearance under government plans to stop hostile states stealing sensitive research.

Britain’s top spooks have warned that foreign powers like China are targeting unis “to deliver their own authoritarian, military and commercial priorities”.

MI5 chief Ken McCallum recently met 24 vice-chancellors to alert them to the emerging national security threat their campuses face.

Now Deputy PM Oliver Dowden is considering a package of measures including requiring key researchers to undergo top-tier security vetting. 

Cyber buffs will also have a role in defending sensitive research from outside attempts to infiltrate it.

Cash could also be given to develop dedicated research security defences within universities.

It follows a government review that uncovered hostile states trying to access serious research in higher education.

Mr Dowden said: “This is not about erecting fences, this is about balancing evolving threats and protecting the integrity and security of our great institutions.”

Tech Secretary Michelle Donelan added: “I believe that universities are on the front lines of a battle for information.

“Maintaining the UK’s world-leading reputation as an academic superpower relies on having strong safeguards to protect research from those who wish to do us harm. “

It also comes after two Brits were charged with spying for China.

Christopher Berry, 32, from Witney, Oxfordshire, and parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, 29, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this month charged with providing prejudicial information to a foreign state.