The ‘fatal blow’ that led to the China spy case collapsing was the inclusion of a line from the Labour party’s manifesto on Beijing.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson was forced to abort the case after the Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins declared that the ‘UK Government is committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China’.
The Daily Mail has learnt that this single sentence, which appears to have been lifted almost word for word from Labour’s 2024 manifesto, destroyed any hope of the prosecution of parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, 33, and his friend Christopher Berry, 30, for allegedly passing secrets to Beijing.
The development, which will increase pressure on Keir Starmer, came as it was alleged yesterday that Mr Berry was carrying a suitcase of cash when he was first stopped by police as he flew into Heathrow from China.
Now the Daily Mail can reveal the inside story of how the extraordinary case unravelled.
When the teacher-turned-academic was searched in February 2023, police found £4,000 in cash but, crucially, officers seized his phone and laptop which revealed connections to Mr Cash and a shadowy figure called ‘Alex’, who was assessed to be a Chinese agent.
Police believe ‘Alex’ commissioned Mr Berry to produce 34 reports, which were handed to Cai Qi, the de facto chief of staff to president Xi Jinping.
Initially, when the pair were charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act on April 22 last year, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was very confident of a successful prosecution.
Christopher Cash (far right) and his friend Christopher Berry (far left) are pictured on stage at a school event in China where they were working as teachers
Sir Keir Starmer, seen with Chinese President Xi Jinping last year, will feel increased pressure after the ‘fatal blow’ of the China spy case was the inclusion of a line from Labour’s manifesto
The case was bolstered by Mr Collins’ assessment that there was evidence that in ten of the 34 reports ‘information and material passed between Chris Berry and Chris Cash and then on to the Chinese intelligence agent would be directly or indirectly useful to the Chinese State, and that communicating the information was prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State’.
His initial statement would have been enough to prosecute the pair, sources have told the Daily Mail. And, with hindsight, many within the CPS wish they had left it there.
But just weeks after the duo were charged, a High Court ruling on a Bulgarian spy ring effectively shifted the bar for prosecution when judges ruled that spying must constitute an ‘active threat’ to Britain’s national security.
As a result, Mr Parkinson decided to seek additional evidence from Mr Collins.
One source familar with the case said: ‘No one thought it would be a problem. He was a government witness and you already had that assurance from his initial statement that the evidence was there.
‘But instead of strengthening his evidence further, the language in his second statement softened the position in China. Another statement was requested, but the CPS cannot say, “Can you go a bit further because if you don’t say this it will collapse”.’
Prosecutors were still hopeful Mr Collins would describe China as an ‘active ongoing threat’.
But when he produced a third witness statement in August he included words from the Labour’s 2024 manifesto saying: ‘It is important for me to emphasise, however, that the UK government is committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China to strengthen understanding, cooperation and stability.’
Mr Collins’ statement left prosecutors shell-shocked.
One insider said: ‘That sentence was a gift to any defence lawyer. How could a judge accept that they were passing secrets to an enemy when Britain wanted to have a positive relationship with China? That was the fatal blow.’
One source said: ‘The evidence was not strong enough to put before a jury, no judge would let the case proceed. The DPP could not overrule that conclusion. That was the end.’
