Badenoch Presses for Answers as China Spy Case Collapses
business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is demanding Prime Minister Rishi Sunak address unanswered questions surrounding the collapse of the trial of two men accused of spying for China. The case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Jonathan Berry, fell apart last month after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) determined the evidence no longer met the required evidential threshold.
Badenoch has asked Labor leader Keir Starmer to clarify weather any ministers were aware of government interactions with the CPS in which the CPS “refused” to provide material requested for the case. She also questioned if the matter was raised with Starmer, including by Jonathan Powell, and whether an earlier denial of government involvement was “misleading.”
The Conservatives have submitted an urgent question to Parliament, seeking a ministerial address on Monday to explain the trial’s collapse.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp stated ministers ”must urgently explain why it chose not to disclose the reams of information it has demonstrating China was a threat to the 2021-2023 period.” Philp called for the resignation of Jonathan powell, stating, ”It looks as if Jonathan Powell was behind this decision – and he should resign if he is.”
Sources within the former Conservative government claim a document containing “hundreds” of examples of Chinese activity posing a threat to the UK existed during the period of the alleged offenses, and could have been used as evidence. Examples cited include a hack on the Ministry of Defense, suspected to be carried out by China.One source asserted, “I don’t think there is a sane jury in the world that would look at that evidence and conclude China was not a threat.” Former ministers also pointed to public statements from ex-MI5 Director General Ken McCallum, who in 2023 described a “sustained campaign” of Chinese espionage on a “pretty epic scale.”
The Liberal Democrats criticized the government’s approach to China as “putting our national security at risk” and urged the government to block the planning request for a new Chinese embassy in London, arguing it could facilitate “Chinese espionage on an industrial scale.”
Cash and Berry were originally charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, while the Conservatives were in power, accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023. Prosecution under the official Secrets Act requires proof that the information passed on was useful to an enemy.The DPP announced last month that the case could no longer proceed.
