LONDON: Britain’s government vehemently denied on Monday (Oct 13) that it helped scupper a high-profile case involving two men accused of spying for China, as it comes under pressure over its stance towards Beijing.
Charges against Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, were dropped last month, two years after they were arrested on allegations of collecting information which could be “useful to an enemy”.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government covets Chinese investment to spur a struggling economy and is pondering a request from Beijing to build a controversial new embassy building in London.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported this weekend that national security adviser Jonathan Powell had pushed for the case to be withdrawn over fears it could prompt China to pull investment.
Starmer’s spokesman told reporters on Monday the claim was “entirely false”.
“There was no role for any member of this government, no minister, or special adviser, to take any decision in relation to this case. That is entirely for the CPS,” he said, referring to the Crown Prosecution Service, which operates independently of the government and police.
CPS chief Stephen Parkinson said last week the case had been dropped because the government failed to provide evidence Beijing was a security threat.
Parkinson, whose job Starmer once occupied, said prosecutors had tried “over many months” to get the evidence needed to proceed with the trial, but it had not been forthcoming from the government.
To prove the case under the UK’s Official Secrets Act, prosecutors needed to show that the defendants were acting for an “enemy” – a country that threatened national security at the time of the offence.
The alleged offences took place between December 2021 and February 2023, when the opposition Conservatives were in power.
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