Security Minister Dan Jarvis has struggled to explain why the prosecution of two Britons accused of spying for China collapsed last month, insisting that under the previous Conservative government, China was not classified as a national security threat. However, evidence suggests otherwise, with official documents and statements from that period describing China as a significant challenge.
The case involved Christopher Cash, a parliamentary researcher for Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, and Christopher Berry, a researcher based in China. They were charged under the 1911 Official Secrets Act for alleged offences between late 2021 and early 2023. The prosecution required deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins to label China as an enemy, but his witness statements in December 2023, February 2025, and July 2025 failed to satisfy the Crown Prosecution Service, leading to the case being dropped.
Jarvis told MPs that the content of the evidence was a matter for Collins, distancing ministers from the failure. But critics point to the 2021 integrated review, which called China a “systemic challenge” and the “biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security.” Additionally, the Electoral Commission hack in 2021-2022, attributed to Chinese actors, prompted then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to label China the “greatest state-based challenge to our national security.”
Labour, influenced by national security adviser Jonathan Powell, seeks closer ties with Beijing, raising questions about whether pressure was applied to restrict Collins's statements. Jarvis has not ruled out releasing the witness statements, but says they may be needed for ongoing legal processes. The lack of transparency continues to fuel suspicion that the government failed to provide prosecutors with necessary information to improve relations with China.
