Tories blasted for 'faux outrage' on China spy case as key change happened under Sunak

The Conservatives have repeatedly criticised Labour over the collapse of the case against Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash - but a key decision was made on their watch

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New evidence has blown a hole in Tory complaints over the collapsed China spy trial as plans to call Beijing an "enemy" were ditched under Rishi Sunak's Government.

Kemi Badenoch's party was accused of misleading the public with howls of "faux outrage" over the case, which collapsed last month.

The Conservatives have repeatedly accused Keir Starmer's Government of political interference - and then of failing to intervene - in the case against Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash, who were accused of passing secrets to China between 2021 and 2023. Both men have consistently denied the allegations.

The case collapsed after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it did not have enough evidence to take it to trial. Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson then publicly blamed the Government for failing to provide enough evidence that China was a national security threat.

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Cash and Berry were charged under the Official Secrets Act 1911, which has since been replaced by the National Security Act 2023. The older legislation stated that people accused of espionage could only be prosecuted if the information they passed on was useful to an enemy.

But in a letter to MPs, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell said a reference to China being an "enemy" of the UK was removed from key evidence in 2023 as it "did not reflect government policy" under the Conservatives at the time.

"Drafts of a statement provided to (Mr Powell) included the term 'enemy' but he removed this term from the final draft as it did not reflect government policy", the letter reads, referring to the Tory Government's stance at the time.

Counter Terror Police and the CPS knew about the change made by Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Collins, he said in a letter signed by the pair to the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy (JCNSS).

Amid Tory howls over alleged political interference by Labour, the letter said the only politician to see the statement was the then-PM, Mr Sunak, in December 2023.

Mr Starmer's Government has insisted ministers did not intervene. Attorney General Lord Hermer said in a letter to the JCNSS that he was informed of the DPP's decision to offer no evidence on September 3, which meant the case collapsed.

Lord Hermer said he discussed the decision with him but "did not though intervene in the case or give any direction to the DPP".

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He said he did not share the information with Cabinet colleagues at the "express request" of Mr Parkinson.

"I was not consulted on the decision, nor would it be appropriate for me to have any involvement in, or objection to, the decision to discontinue on evidential grounds," he said.

The revelations come as the DPP and Mr Collins will be hauled before MPs for a grilling on Monday.

Today, Mr Parkinson said Mr Collins's refusal to describe China as a threat to national security was "fatal to the case". In a letter to MPs, he said it took more than a year to confirm that Mr Collins would not state this in court.

He said a High Court judge ruled in June last year that an "enemy" under law is a state which "presently poses an active threat to the UK's national security", prompting the CPS to ask the deputy national security adviser (DNSA) whether China fulfilled that criteria.

Mr Parkinson said prosecutors believed they could get this evidence from Mr Collins but added: "This was a sticking point that could not be overcome."

The revelations triggered criticism of the Conservatives. The PM's press secretary said: "The Tories have spent weeks throwing around baseless accusations which have been proven totally untrue.

"The Conservatives have serious questions to answer for their gross negligence of national security which left huge gaps in the law.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Max Wilkinson MP said: "Kemi Badenoch has well and truly been hoist by her own petard. We’ve long suspected that both the Conservatives and Labour had serious questions to answer over this case.

"Today’s revelations make a mockery of the Conservative leadership’s faux outrage over the past fortnight - they owe the public an apology for misleading them."