MPs have announced a formal inquiry into the collapse of a high-profile espionage case against two men accused of spying for China, following the publication of key witness statements by Downing Street. Matt Western, Labour MP and chair of the joint committee on national security strategy, told the House of Commons there were “a lot of questions yet to be asked” after charges were dropped last month against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, a teacher.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) abandoned the case after prosecutors said the government had not provided evidence that China represented a “threat to the national security of the UK”. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. Ministers released three witness statements from deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins late on Wednesday, after accusations that the government had interfered with the trial to protect trade ties with China.
Cabinet Office minister Chris Ward said the decision to abandon the trial “was taken purely by the Crown Prosecution Service” and that Collins’s statements demonstrated he “took significant strides to articulate the threat of China in support of the prosecution”. However, Conservative MPs noted that the final statement, submitted in August, mirrored language from Labour’s election manifesto, raising questions about political influence.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said Collins had included the language “freely without interference from ministers or advisers” and that the context “further underlines that [Collins’s] account of the situation and evidence as it was at the time of the alleged offence has not materially changed, despite the change in government”. Downing Street revealed Starmer was informed the case was at risk days before the CPS announcement but said it was not for him to intervene.
Former shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat, who employed Cash as a researcher, accused Starmer of “hiding behind process” instead of doing everything to ensure the prosecution succeeded. The prime minister’s spokesperson called the suggestion “frankly absurd”, stating that intervention would have meant interfering in a criminal matter related to a previous government. Health minister Stephen Kinnock said the government was “deeply disappointed” and that CPS director Stephen Parkinson was “the best person to explain” the missing evidence.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who also employed Cash before his arrest, said she would question Parkinson on Thursday, adding: “In my view the CPS should have proceeded with this.” Collins’s statements, written in 2023 and 2025, described Beijing’s intelligence agencies as conducting “large-scale espionage operations” that “harm the interests and security of the UK”. The inquiry is expected to examine why the case collapsed and whether the government could have done more to support the prosecution.
