Government publishes evidence in collapsed China spy case

The government has published witness statements submitted in the now-collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China.

Deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins provided three witness statements to prosecutors - one in 2023 and two earlier this year - on whether China had been regarded as a threat to national security at the time of the alleged offences.

Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) unexpectedly dropped charges against the two men, Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, both of whom deny the allegations.

Mr Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Mr Berry were charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.

They were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023.

The director of public prosecutions has said the case collapsed because evidence could not be obtained from the government referring to China as a national security threat.

He said while there was sufficient evidence when charges were originally brought against the two men, a precedent set by another spying case earlier this year meant China would need to have been labelled a "threat to national security" at the time of the alleged offences.

The Conservatives have claimed the government did not provide sufficient evidence because it does not want to damage relations with Beijing.

However, the Labour government has argued that because the alleged offences took place under the Conservatives, the prosecution could only be based on their stance on China at the time.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions earlier, Sir Keir Starmer said: "Under this government, no minister or special adviser played any role in the provision of evidence."

The publication of the documents followed pressure from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, who had called for them to be released.

On Tuesday, senior government figures had suggested that the CPS had told them publishing the witness statements would be "inappropriate".

But the CPS later made clear it would not stand in the way if ministers chose to put the government's evidence in the public domain.