Rishi Sunak says a "malign actor" has broken into the armed forces payroll system, potentially compromising the details of more than a quarter of a million current and recently retired members of the military.
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Ministers declined to identify the culprit but many MPs blame China for the cyber attack - an accusation Beijing said was absurd.
As politicians returned to Westminster after last week's local elections, the disturbing revelation dragged their attention away from analysing the results of those contests.
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