A high-profile espionage trial collapsed last month after prosecutors said they could not obtain government evidence confirming that China was a national security threat at the time of the alleged offences.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing, prompting rare public friction between ministers and prosecutors, and raising questions about how Britain defines its relationship with China.
The fallout has drawn in the Prime Minister, former law officers and senior security figures, as claims emerged that the case fell apart because no government was willing to label China an “enemy”.
Here is everything we know about why the trial collapsed.
How did the case fall apart?
In September, the CPS abandoned espionage charges against Christopher Cash, 30, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, 33, a teacher.
Both had denied breaking the Official Secrets Act by passing information “prejudicial to the interests of the state” between December 2021 and February 2023.
Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions (DPP), later told MPs that the CPS had “over many months” sought evidence from the Government confirming China was a national security threat at that time. None was provided, and without it, he said the prosecution could not proceed.
A High Court ruling earlier this year in a separate case involving six Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia redefined the term “enemy” in the 1911 Act. This had required prosecutors to prove the alleged target was a state formally recognised as a national security threat.
Parkinson said that “further evidence should be obtained” after that judgment, but “none of the witness statements provided stated that at the time of the offence China represented a threat”.
With the evidential test unmet, the CPS concluded the case could not proceed.
Both the previous Conservative Government and current Labour ministers have described China as an “epoch-defining challenge” rather than a national security threat.
But parts of the 1911 Act have since been replaced by the new National Security Act, which removes the need to prove an “enemy” relationship for future prosecutions.
The Sunday Times reported that senior Whitehall figures, including national security adviser Jonathan Powell and Foreign Office diplomat Sir Oliver Robins, met shortly before the charges were dropped. Downing Street has denied political involvement.
What has the Government said?
Sir Keir Starmer said the issue “has to be judged by what the position was at the time”, arguing any designation of China as a threat would have had to come from the former Conservative Government.
“You can’t prosecute someone two years later in relation to a designation that wasn’t in place at the time,” he told reporters on his flight to India on Tuesday.
Starmer, a former DPP, refused to criticise the CPS, saying “it’s wise not to”.
The Conservatives have since accused Labour of being soft on China. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Starmer had “very serious questions to personally answer”, while former Foreign Affairs Committee chair Alicia Kearns alleged ministers had “crippled prosecutors to appease Beijing for a trade deal”.
But skills minister Emma Hardy told Sky News there had been “absolutely no pressure” from the Government to drop the case, calling such claims “completely false”.
She said the collapse resulted from the High Court ruling, which raised the evidential bar, and added: “We as a government are incredibly disappointed that it has been dropped.”
No 10’s press secretary also dismissed reports that ministers withheld evidence or restricted witnesses as “untrue”.
Former DPP Lord Macdonald said Attorney General Lord Hermer should explain the episode to Parliament. “You simply cannot have a serious national security case collapsing without some proper explanation being given to the public,” he told BBC Radio 4.
What is the UK’s stance on China?
The case has reignited debate over Britain’s stance on China.
An Intelligence and Security Committee report last year said Beijing had penetrated “every sector” of the UK economy, yet successive governments have avoided designating China a hostile state. Ministers now refer to it as a “systemic challenge”.
Critics say this reluctance has left prosecutors somewhat paralysed. Lord Macdonald said “of course, China is a threat to the UK’s national security”, while Grieve said the outcome reflected “a failure of coordination”.
However, since taking office in July last year, Labour has sought to “reset” British relations with Beijing.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited China in 2024, urging “pragmatic solutions to complex challenges”. Powell, Starmer’s national security adviser, also visited in July, a trip later disclosed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Those diplomatic moves now face renewed scrutiny.
The Government insists the trial’s collapse was a matter of law, not policy, but questions remain about how the UK balances security with diplomacy.
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