Tory MP allegedly targeted by China slams 'wall of silence' from Labour over spy trial collapse
Alicia Kearns was one of the alleged targets of the espionage case against two men accused of spying for China
A Tory MP who was targeted by the Chinese Communist Party has slammed the Government's "wall of silence" over the collapse of a trial of two men accused of spying for the authoritarian state.
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Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said that she has “significant concerns and questions” about the actions of National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell’s role in the collapse of the trial of Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, a teacher.
Charges against the pair were withdrawn last month, sparking concerns and a political row.
The Sunday Times reported Mr Powell had pushed for the case to be withdrawn over fears it could cause economic giant China to pull investment in the UK.
Downing Street has dismissed the involvement of officials or ministers as “entirely false” and said the decision lay “entirely” with the CPS.
After the Government faced questions in the House of Commons today about the row, Alicia, who was one of the targets of the alleged espionage, told Tonight with Andrew Marr on LBC that “the Government has done itself no favours” in the way it explained furore.
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Ms Kearns, the former chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, also revealed that “the heads of the security agencies told [her] this was a slam dunk trial” and that “the Crown Prosecution Service, told [her] that they were right to bring forward charges and that the evidential basis was met before the General Election.”
When asked by Andrew about whether she believed her former employee had handed over dangerous information, Alicia told Andrew: "I don't know the full extent of what those individuals shared, because unfortunately, as a witness, obviously the police wanted to make sure they didn't taint my evidence.
"But when you're questioned, you end up getting quite a lot of information about what was revealed, and there was lots of information about initiatives we're working on."
Elaborating, she told Andrew: "We were the ones that stopped a semiconductor factory from being bought fully by the Chinese government. We were the ones that got lots of changes to legislation on a procurement bill, TikTok, things on phones changed.
"But also the main thing often when it comes to espionage, is countries trying to understand how to influence and undermine our state, and that colour, that state of mind, that information, is fundamental to what particularly what the Chinese Communist Party need."
When pushed on whether Jonathan Powell should stand down as National Security Adviser amidst the scandal, Kearns was noncommittal.
She responded: "So, I'm afraid today in the Commons, the Government has done itself no favours.
All I know is that the heads of the security agencies told us this was a slam dunk trial. I have the Crown Prosecution Service telling me that they were right to bring forward charges and that the evidential basis was met before the General Election."
She concluded: "I'm afraid if the Government was as disappointed as they say they are about the case, then why have they taken no steps to punish the Chinese Communist Party? Why have there been no repercussions? Because that is something they could do if they were truly disappointed the trial had collapsed."