China has been handed ‘carte blanche’ to spy on Britain, ministers were warned today as it emerged that the spy case collapsed after Government advisers refused to call Beijing a national security threat for a year.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson has sensationally revealed that the China spy case collapsed after the Government’s national security adviser refused to provide crucial evidence that China represented an ‘active threat’ for more than a year.
In a letter which has deepened the war of words in Whitehall over the scandal, the head of the CPS said he still stands by the decision to charge former parliamentary aide Christopher Cash, 30, with passing secrets to Beijing along with 33-year-old British teacher Christopher Berry.
He revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service had spent more than a year trying to get key evidence that the accused pair were spying for an ‘enemy’, but prosecutors were rebuffed by officials who refused to say China represented a threat to the UK’s national security.
Under the Official Secrets Act, Mr Cash and Mr Berry were accused of collecting and passing information that would be ‘directly or indirectly useful to an enemy’.
Just weeks after the duo were charged, a High Court ruling on a similar Bulgarian spy case effectively set the bar for prosecution when judges ruled that spying must constitute an active threat to Britain’s national security.
Mr Parkinson sought additional evidence from national security advisors after the ruling on July 16, 2024.
CPS chief Stephen Parkinson has sensationally revealed that the China spy case collapsed after the Government’s national security adviser refused to provide crucial evidence that China represented an ‘active threat’
Downing Street has confirmed that National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell will appear before senior MPs and peers to answer questions about the scandal
But he was eventually forced to pull the plug on the case last month after prosecutors were strung along for months with the promise of further witness statements to resolve the issue, which never materialised.
The revelations will pile yet more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser to explain why the CPS requests for evidence on the crucial point were refused and why taxpayers cash was wasted on a two-year case which may have been doomed from the outset due to the Government’s efforts to build ties with the Communist state.
Downing Street has confirmed that National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell will appear before senior MPs and peers to answer questions about the scandal.
But his appearance before the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy will be in private – even though his predecessors have given evidence to the same committee in public.
Shadow National Security Minister Alicia Kearns, who has been told by the CPS that she was ‘targeted’ by China as part of the case, today said: ‘It looks like this Labour Government is so desperate to appease China to get some sort of deal across the line that they refused to provide vital evidence to the CPS that China represented a threat to the UK’s national security.
‘It’s effectively handing carte blanche to China to spy on Britain without fear of repercussions, because it shows that no one in government was willing to say that China poses a threat – not even that China is an enemy state – just that it poses a threat of any sort.
‘If you look at this High Court judgement, it was pretty reasonable, there is plenty of evidence in the speeches of MI5 chief Ken McCallum that China poses a threat.
‘Keir Starmer has questions to answer here, this judgement effectively lowered the bar for prosecution yet no one in Government was willing to help the CPS.’
Following mounting calls for an inquiry into the scandal, Mr Parkinson wrote to the Chairs of the Home Affairs and Justice Committees today saying he had decided to provide ‘further information’ due to ‘Government briefings’ on the case.
Former parliamentary aide Christopher Cash, 30, was charged with passing secrets to Beijing
Also charged was teacher Christopher Berry, 33. The charges against both men were dropped
He wrote: ‘I am satisfied that the decision to charge this case in April 2024 was correct. This was on the basis of where the law stood at that time in relation to the requirements of the Official Secrets Act 1911.
‘Some weeks later, a High Court decision (R v Roussev and others 2024) ruled that “enemy” for the purposes of the 1911 Act includes a country which represents at the time of the offence, a threat to the national security of the UK.
‘In the light of this new judgment, it was considered that further evidence should be obtained.
‘Efforts to obtain that evidence were made over many months, but notwithstanding the fact that further witness statements were provided, none of these stated that at the time of the offence China represented a threat to national security, and by late August 2025 it was realised that this evidence would not be forthcoming.
‘When this became apparent, the case could not proceed.
‘This was a professional assessment made by CPS lawyers experienced in prosecuting national security and espionage cases, applying the Code for Crown Prosecutors.’
He added: ‘I am writing to you now because I consider it important to provide assurance, particularly to Parliamentarians, that everything possible was done to bring this case to court.’
