Government made every effort' to support China spy case, says minister

"The government made every effort to support the trial of two men accused of spying for China, a minister has said as he accused the Tories of claiming the case was deliberately abandoned without a shred of evidence. Dan Jarvis, the security minister, issued a robust defence of Jonathan Powell in the Commons after reports that Keir Starmer's national security adviser played a role in the collapse of the case."

"Jarvis said that since the charges against Cash and Berry were brought in April 2024, the deputy national security adviser, Matthew Collins, provided three witness statements to support the trial in December 2023, February 2025 and July 2025. All of the evidence provided by the deputy NSA was based on the law at the time of the offence and the policy position of the Conservatives at the time of the offence, he told MPs."

"But he said the CPS decided to pull the charges because it was hamstrung by antiquated legislation that had not been updated by the Conservative government despite the evolving nature of the state threats that we face. Jarvis told the Commons that suggestions that the government concealed evidence, withdrew witnesses or restricted the ability of witnesses to draw on particular bits of evidence are all untrue."

The government made every effort to support the trial of two men accused of spying for China and denied allegations that evidence was concealed or witnesses withdrawn. The charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry were dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service said it could no longer meet the evidential threshold. The deputy national security adviser, Matthew Collins, provided three witness statements in December 2023, February 2025 and July 2025. All evidence from the deputy NSA was based on the law and Conservative policy at the time of the alleged offences. The CPS cited antiquated legislation, not government obstruction, as the reason for pulling the charges. A political dispute continues between ministers and the Tories over how the case was handled.

Read at www.theguardian.com