Spying case collapsed after UK refused to label China a ‘threat’, prosecutors say

Open Editor’s Digest for free

Rula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

A case relating to alleged Chinese spying in Parliament has collapsed after the government refused to provide evidence that China poses a threat to the UK’s national security, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

In a letter on Tuesday, prosecutors said they had repeatedly asked the government in recent months to provide evidence that China posed a threat to national security at the time of the alleged crimes in 2023, but were refused.

The Public Prosecution said the refusal was the main reason behind it abandoning a case last month against two Britons accused of spying on politicians in Westminster on behalf of China.

“Efforts were made to obtain evidence over several months,” the Public Prosecution Service said in the letter addressed to the chairs of the House of Commons Home Affairs and Justice Committees.

The letter added: “Although further witness statements were provided, none stated that at the time of the crime China was a threat to national security, and by late August 2025, it was realized that this evidence would no longer be available.” “When this became clear, it was not possible to proceed with the case.”

The case was originally brought in April 2024 against Christopher Cash and Christopher Perry, who vehemently denied the charges and said prosecutors were right to drop what they called a mistrial.

The case concerns alleged conduct between 2021 and 2023.

Sir Keir Starmer’s government has faced enormous pressure over the collapse of the case.

The Financial Times and other newspapers have reported in recent days that the UK’s top national security advisers have refused to provide necessary testimony about China for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act, the law under which the men were charged.

Senior MPs called for an investigation after claims the government prioritized trade with China over the UK’s national security.

Some MPs fear the case could give Beijing the green light to spy at Westminster, given alleged crimes that include providing information about parliamentarians to a Chinese agent.

Senior UK security consultants have been accused of fatally undermining the CPS case against Cash & Perry.

There was a row at a meeting in September involving the Home Office, attended by Jonathan Powell, Starmer’s national security adviser, Matthew Collins, deputy national security adviser, and Olly Robins, permanent undersecretary at the Foreign Office, according to other senior officials.

The officials claimed that security advisers told the Home Office that Collins would not identify China as an “enemy” in court – which was seen as a key element of any successful prosecution under the UK’s Official Secrets Act.

In a similar trial earlier this year, UK prosecutors – supported by Collins’ testimony – said the enemy included “any state that poses a threat to our national security”. As a result, six Bulgarian citizens were convicted of spying for Russia in May.

The Crown Prosecution Service said on Tuesday that the decision to charge the two men in 2024 was correct, but the ruling in a similar trial, which saw six Bulgarian citizens convicted of spying for Russia this year, made clear the need to seek further evidence that would show that China was a threat to the UK’s national security at the time of the alleged crimes.

Sir Keir Starmer sought to defend his government’s conduct on Tuesday, telling reporters the case should reflect the previous Conservative government’s position on China at the time of the crime.

“You can’t prosecute someone two years later in relation to a classification that didn’t exist at the time,” Starmer said.

“As a prosecutor, I know that if you’re going to prosecute a case like this, what matters is the situation at the time.”

Conservative MPs said it was clear that China was a threat at the time of the alleged crimes, and that security services had sufficient evidence of increasing threats from Beijing.

The State Department warned in June that “instances of Chinese espionage, interference in our democracy, and undermining our economic security have increased in recent years.”

Sir Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said in 2023 that more than 20,000 people in the UK had been contacted by Chinese spies online, describing to the BBC “an ongoing campaign on an absolutely epic scale.”

Alicia Cairns, the Conservative MP who was due to appear as a witness before the trial collapsed, said: “We now know that Labor did not even have to label China an ‘enemy’ for the trial to proceed, just provide evidence that China poses a threat to our national security, which it has done for years.”

“Our government’s refusal to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party is undoubtedly constitutionally improper. The Labor Party has managed to undermine our law enforcement, security services and prosecutors, while sending a message to China that they will not protect our democracy.”