The explosive case against two men accused of passing classified information to Beijing has sensationally collapsed, with bombshell evidence from a top civil servant revealing the UK’s commitment to a “positive relationship” with China despite the spying allegations.
Matthew Collins, the deputy national security adviser, was asked to provide evidence proving China was a threat to the UK when Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry allegedly engaged in espionage between 2021 and 2023, reports The Telegraph.
Witness statements released after Starmer’s threat
The Government finally released Collins’ three witness statements on Wednesday evening, a staggering nine hours after Sir Keir Starmer threatened to reveal them himself amid intense criticism of the Government’s handling of the case and claims of a “cover-up”.
In his evidence, Collins stated that the Government was “committed” to a “positive relationship” with China, despite listing a series of attacks against the UK by Chinese-linked groups.
‘You’re in spy territory now’
Collins also revealed that Cash had allegedly told Berry “you’re in spy territory now” when discussing sensitive material that was eventually sent to one of Xi Jinping’s top officials.
Cash, who denies any wrongdoing, said in a statement on Wednesday night that he “hasn’t had the daylight of a public trial” and “shouldn’t be subjected to trial by media”.
Collapse of trial embarrasses Government
The collapse of the trial has become a major embarrassment for the Government, which has been accused of prioritising economic relations with Beijing over national security.
Collins was asked by the CPS to “amplify” his earlier statements and provide extra evidence to establish that China was a threat to national security when the alleged offences took place.
UK ‘committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China’
In his August statement – just a month before the case collapsed – Collins concluded: “The UK Government is committed to pursuing a positive relationship with China to strengthen understanding, cooperation and stability”.
This statement was written more than two years after he outlined swathes of evidence in his first statement about how Cash and Berry allegedly passed information to China from Parliament.
China presents “biggest state-based threat” to UK’s economic security
In his second statement, issued in February this year, Collins listed a series of attacks on the UK, including through the APT31 Chinese-linked hacking group, and explained that China presents the “biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security”.
However, in his third statement in August, Collins stopped short of describing Beijing as a threat to national security, instead referring to the Integrated Review and Integrated Review Refresh, which described China as a “systemic challenge” and “epoch-defining” challenge.
Conservative MPs allegedly spied on
Collins explained that based on information from the Metropolitan Police’s SO15 counter-terrorism unit, Cash allegedly passed information to Berry about the Conservative Party leadership contest and Tom Tugendhat’s likely promotion to the Cabinet.
Berry, a teacher from Oxfordshire, was allegedly “recruited…as an agent” by Chinese intelligence and “directed” to use Cash, a researcher for the China Research Group of Conservative MPs, as a “sub-source”.
Political intervention in evidence?
Critics have argued that the inclusion of phrases from the Labour Party’s “three Cs” policy on China in Collins’ evidence shows political intervention and contradicts claims by Sir Keir that only the policy of the previous Conservative government could be used as evidence in the case.
Alicia Kearns, one of the Conservative MPs who was allegedly spied on by Cash, said the inclusion of those phrases was “lifted from the Labour Party manifesto” and was “political in the extreme”.
DPP reveals evidence was close to threshold for trial
It has been reported that Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, told senior MPs that Collins’s statement was close to the legal threshold to continue the trial of Cash and Berry.
ITV News reported that he told MPs the evidence was “5 per cent less than the evidence threshold that was needed” and that he informed Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, that the prosecution would not continue.
PM knew trial was on brink of collapse but did not intervene
Downing Street admitted on Wednesday that Sir Keir knew for two days that the Chinese spies case was on the brink of collapse but did not intervene.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman admitted he found out about the possible collapse of the trial “a couple of days” in advance but had not seen Collins’s witness statements until Wednesday morning.