RAF jets are ready to intercept any Chinese spy balloons that are spotted in UK airspace, Rishi Sunak has said.
The prime minister said the government would do “whatever it takes” to keep the country safe from the threat of spy balloons, following incidents in the US and Canada.
Alarms have been raised after the US was forced to shoot down a fourth flying object on Sunday.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace has confirmed that the UK will carry out a security review with its allies over the saga, following fears that spying devices could also have been deployed into UK airspace.
Asked about whether such spying devices had been seen in UK airspace, the prime minister told broadcasters: “I want people to know that we will do whatever it takes to keep the country safe.
“We have something called the quick reaction alert force which involves Typhoon planes, which are kept on 24/7 readiness to police our airspace, which is incredibly important.
“I can’t obviously comment in detail on national security matters, but we are in constant touch with our allies and, as I said, we will do whatever it takes to keep the country safe.”
Pressed about the possibility of incidents in UK airspace, Sunak added: “As I said, I wouldn’t comment in detail on security matters but people should be reassured that we have all the capabilities in place to keep the country safe.”
Earlier on Monday, transport minister Richard Holden raised the possibility that Chinese spy balloons may already have entered UK airspace.
“It’s also possible – and I would think likely – that there will be people from the Chinese government trying to act as a hostile state,” Holden told Sky News.
“We saw with Russia, here in the UK with the Salisbury poisonings and other actions they have taken, I think we’ve got to be realistic that these countries are opposed to the UK.
“They’re not interested in our democratic values, they’re not interested in human rights around the world.
“We are and we’ve got to keep promoting those values at the same time as, whenever we can, offer sanctuary to people from some of these countries, especially those we’ve got a relationship to, with reference to Hong Kong.”
His comments were also echoed by Wallace, who told the Sun: “Is it the case that a Chinese satellite has probably circled Britain and looked at us?
“I should think yes.”
Wallace has also previously said that if one such balloon was seen over the UK, he would shoot it down.
The first suspected spy balloon was shot down on Saturday, February 4.
On Friday, February 10, another object was shot down over Alaska. A third followed over a Canadian province of Yukon on Saturday, February 11, and a fourth on Sunday, February 12, flying over Lake Huron between the US and Canada.