Royal Mail accuses Border Force of failing to stop fake stamps from China

Alicia Kearns, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, demanded the Chinese state launch an investigation and crack down on factories “brazenly” producing the counterfeits.

She said: “It is incumbent upon the Chinese state to now crack down on these companies who are openly supporting illicit trade in stamps, investigate printing facilities and expose those funding them.

“There is evidently a need for enhanced measures to safeguard postal service integrity, enhanced intelligence sharing, and increased efforts to mitigate potential economic and security risks associated with counterfeit postage operations linked to China.”

Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “This is incredibly worrying for British consumers and small businesses who are being defrauded, the Government must urgently investigate the scale of this forgery and work with Royal Mail, the police and the regulator to clamp down on this criminality.”

The Liberal Democrats called on the Chinese government to face questions from ministers and urging the Foreign Office to arrange a meeting with the Chinese ambassador.

The party’s treasury spokesman Sarah Olney said: “Surely a government minister has to step in to investigate.

“The Government can’t pass the buck on our postal service being undermined by fake stamps, made on the other side of the world. Ministers are missing in action on a potential scandal.

“As part of an investigation, ministers should question Chinese government officials in the UK. No stone can be left unturned, and the public will expect the Chinese embassy to be contacted by the Foreign Office”

However a spokesman for the Chinese embassy dismissed the reports, telling The Times they were “baseless” and “low-level”.