Government interference did not collapse Chinese spy case
Suggestions that Government interference led to the collapse of a major Chinese spying case are “all untrue”, Downing Street has insisted.
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Ministers also retain confidence in England and Wales’ chief prosecutor following the case, according to No 10, as he based his work around the previous Conservative government’s policy on China.
The case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry was dropped on September 15, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs from across both sides of the political aisle.
The decision reportedly came after senior Whitehall mandarins met to discuss the trial, including national security adviser Jonathan Powell and the Foreign Office’s top civil servant Sir Oliver Robbins, according to the Sunday Times.
In order to prove the case under the Official Secrets Act, prosecutors would have had to show the defendants were acting for an “enemy”.
Read more: Chinese spies emboldened by decision not to charge men accused of espionage, Commons Speaker warns
But Mr Powell reportedly revealed the Government’s evidence would be based on the national security strategy, which does not use that term to describe China, so it could not be used in court.
“The suggestion that the Government withheld evidence, withdrew witnesses, or restricted the ability of witnesses to draw on particular bits of evidence are all untrue,” the Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters on Monday.
Among those who have heavily criticised the collapse of the case are the Tories, who have said ministers now have serious questions to answer.
But sources within Government said evidence in the case had to relate to the period when the alleged incidents took place – between 2021 and 2023 – when the Conservatives were in power.
Senior Tory figures at the time – including the party’s current leader, Kemi Badenoch – did not refer to China as an enemy, only as a “challenge”, informing the evidence.
Over the weekend, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also referred to China as a “challenge”.
Labour is seeking to forge closer trade ties with Beijing as it attempts to grow the UK’s economy, one of its chief missions in Government.
Ms Mahmood also said Sir Keir Starmer’s Government had a “hard-headed, realistic approach” to the Chinese state.
Mr Cash, 30, from Whitechapel, east London, and Mr Berry, 33, of Witney, Oxfordshire, had denied the allegations.
Stephen Parkinson, chief prosecutor in England and Wales, had said the CPS had determined the proceedings had to be stopped because of an “evidential failure”.
Downing Street was asked if the Prime Minister remained confident in Mr Parkinson’s ability to do the job.
“Yes. It is obviously for the CPS to take decisions on the evidential threshold which they take cases forward, and they obviously judged that that threshold was met at the time,” a spokesperson said.
“It’s obviously up to them to keep that under review and to take their own decisions. But very clearly, the Government’s evidence did not materially change, not least because it was based on the previous government’s policy, and previous governments’ policy can’t change.
“So you know our position on this is clear, it’s obviously up to the CPS, however, to take charging decisions and decide whether they can proceed with prosecution.”
Since the period in which the alleged spying offences took place, the Official Secrets Act has been superseded by the National Security Act, which provides a new framework for espionage court cases.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp insisted to Politico that Sir Keir had questions to answer over the case’s collapse.
Speaking at the Tory conference, he said: “I’ve been assured privately that Home Office ministers were not sighted on this. You can make your own judgment about that assurance.
“I have spoken to Labour people and I got that answer.”
He insisted Labour ministers must have changed position on categorising China as an enemy, despite senior Tories at the time not referring to them as such at the time.
But he added: “Apparently, that was an instruction given by Olly Robbins and by Jonathan Powell. And I would be astonished, I’d be staggered, if the Prime Minister hadn’t been sighted on that.
“I can’t imagine Jonathan Powell, who’s one of Keir Starmer’s closest and most senior advisors, would have done that without discussing it with the Prime Minister first, so Keir Starmer now has some very serious questions to personally answer.”