UK to publish witness statements after collapse of China espionage trial

Reporter
National Press Corporation

United Kingdom-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the government will publish in full the witness statements submitted in the now-collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China.

The case against Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, charged under the Official Secrets Act in April 2024, was dropped last month by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Both men deny the allegations.Starmer told Parliament that the deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins had provided three witness statements to prosecutors — one in December 2023 and two more in February and August 2025, after Labour took office. The prime minister said he intended to publish them “in full”.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had both called for the government to release the evidence, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accusing ministers of a “cover-up”.Badenoch said it was “unbelievable” for Starmer to claim the previous Conservative government had not regarded China as a threat. She accused the prime minister of being “too weak to stand up to China”, saying:

“He’s blaming his civil servants, he’s blaming the media, he’s blaming the last government — but a serious case involving national security has collapsed because this government is too weak.”The CPS said the prosecution failed because key evidence could not be obtained from the government referring to China as a national security threat.

Addressing MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer said he was “deeply disappointed” the prosecutions did not proceed but insisted the government’s position on China must reflect the official policy of the time, set out in the 2021 Integrated Review and its 2023 update, which described China as a “systemic challenge” but not an enemy.

“The cabinet secretary assures me that the deputy national security adviser faithfully set out the policy of the then-Tory government,” Starmer said. “Under this government, no minister or special adviser played any role in the provision of evidence.”

The Tories have also called for the government to publish minutes of a meeting on 1 September, just two weeks before the case collapsed, between National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and Sir Oliver Robbins, the top civil servant at the Foreign Office. The government insists the case was not discussed at that meeting.Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have urged the publication of all legal advice received by the government and called for an independent inquiry to determine what went wrong.

The publication of the witness statements is expected to shed light on why one of Britain’s most high-profile espionage cases was abandoned, and whether political sensitivities surrounding China played a part.