CPS blames Labour for collapse of China spy trial as Starmer fires back at Tories

Labour has been blamed for the collapse of the Chinese spy trial as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued a damning letter to MPs. Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said the CPS had spent "many months" pursuing an espionage case against Christopher Berry and Chris Cash by attempting to secure witness statements that confirmed China was a threat to the UK. However, the case collapsed on September 15 when the court was told: "We simply cannot continue to prosecute this case."

In a letter sent to politicians, Mr Parkinson said: "Notwithstanding the fact that further witness statements were provided, none of these stated that at the time of the offence China represented a threat to national security, and by late August 2025 it was realised that this evidence would not be forthcoming."

The ruling of the case found that to officially be an "enemy" under the 1911 Official Secrets Act, a country must have posed a real threat to the national security of the UK at the time of an alleged offence.

Mr Parkinson said that prosecutors sought evidence from Labour after the ruling, but no witnesses confirmed that China met the requirements to be classified as an enemy.

Following this, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer shifted the blame onto the former Conservative government for not formally labelling China as a threat at the time, and that Labour was unable to do so retrospectively.

Mr Cash and Mr Berry were accused of passing more than 30 reports about the previous Tory government's China policy to Beijing.

Both men denied any wrongdoing and it is now unlikely they will ever face trial.

Sir Keir said he had been briefed throughout, but insisted Labour were unable to do anything due to the Conservative's being in power at the time of the charges.

The Prime Minister said: "Let me just be really clear about this.

"What matters is what the designation was in 2023, because that's when the offence was committed and that's when the relevant period was.

"Therefore, statements were drawn up at the time according to the then government policy, and they haven't been changed in relation to it, that was the position then.

"You can't prosecute someone two years later in relation to a designation that wasn't in place at the time."

Conservative shadow minister Alex Burghart said Labour "have serious questions to answer about the collapse of the China spy case".

"Why were the charges dropped?" he asked. "Did they lean on the CPS? And did Jonathan Powell act with Starmer's approval?

"Labour must urgently come clean with Parliament and the public, and we will force them to do so by laying questions in the House of Commons."