'Disappointed': Starmer blames Tories for China spy trial being dropped

Sir Keir Starmer has said the government is "disappointed" a China spy trial was dropped and blamed the previous Tory government.

The case against teacher Christopher Berry, 33, and former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, 30 - accused of spying for China - was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on 15 September.

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Berry, of Witney, Oxfordshire, and Cash, from Whitechapel, east London, had denied accusations of providing information prejudicial to the interests of the state in breach of the Official Secrets Act between December 2021 and February 2023.

On Tuesday, Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions (DPP), told MPs in a letter that the CPS had tried "over many months" to get the evidence it needed to carry out the prosecution, but it had not been forthcoming from the Labour government.

He said the government refused to brand China a threat, despite being repeatedly asked.

To prove the case under the Official Secrets Act of 1911, prosecutors would have to show the defendants were acting for an "enemy".

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But the prime minister said the trial would have had to take place based on the situation during the period Berry and Cash were accused.

"So it wasn't this government's position, it was the Tory government before's position," he said on Wednesday.

"Now, that's not a political to and fro, that's a matter of law.

"You have to prosecute people on the basis of the circumstances at the time of the alleged offence. And so all the focus needs to be on the policy of the Tory government in place then."

He added his government was "disappointed" the trial did not proceed.

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Former Conservative chair of the powerful foreign affairs committee, Alicia Kearns, who Mr Cash worked for when he was arrested, accused Labour of crippling prosecutors to appease Beijing for a trade deal.

However, minister Emma Hardy told Sky News the case was dropped due to a change in case law following a High Court case earlier this year, which meant the evidence threshold "wasn't met".

She said the China spy case had to be based on the evidence from 2023, when they were charged.

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No pressure from government

Asked if there was any pressure from the government to drop the case over fears of calling China an enemy, the minister said: "No, absolutely not.

"I'm pleased to be able to come on here and put that straight because I've seen that flying around social media."

Government 'didn't want to upset China'

Ms Kearns told Sky News the government "needs to answer who spiked the prosecution" as the DPP said the government refused to provide evidence to the CPS "for months and months".

She accused the government of having "stonewalled" her and the public by failing to explain why it is blaming the Conservative government while also saying the CPS is independent.

Luke de Pulford, chief executive of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told Sky News the letter from the DPP is an "extraordinary intervention" and Mr Parker was forced into sending it because the government was blaming him for the case collapsing.

He added: "What was alleged here was the worst breach of parliamentary security I think anybody can remember.

"To allow people to walk away scot-free because we didn't want to provide evidence, because we didn't want to upset China, really is unacceptable at any level and that's why I think nobody wants to admit it."

No involvement from national security adviser

It is understood the decision to end the case came after a meeting of senior officials, which, according to The Sunday Times, included Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, and Sir Oliver Robbins, the Foreign Office's top diplomat.

Ms Hardy denied Mr Powell was involved in the decision to drop the case.

"Absolutely not, nothing to do with him, nothing to do with ministers whatsover," she said.

"That is completely false."

The minister said she would not call China an "enemy" but added: "China is a challenge and China is a country which we have a large trading relationship with.

"And sometimes we'll be competing with China, sometimes we'll be collaborating with China. And sometimes we need to challenge China when it makes decisions that we don't think are in our interest."

(c) Sky News 2025: 'Disappointed': Starmer blames Tories for China spy trial being dropped