Keir Starmer promised to publish the evidence at PMQs(PA)
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has moved to publish crucial evidence relating to the collapsed China espionage case, a decision that comes amid considerable political controversy and debate over the handling of national security threats. The release of these documents follows the unexpected decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) last month to discontinue legal proceedings against two men previously accused of spying for Beijing: Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry. Both individuals have consistently denied wrongdoing, and the sudden collapse of the case prompted sharp criticism and calls for transparency.
In response to mounting pressure, the Government disclosed on Wednesday evening three witness statements prepared by Matthew Collins, the deputy national security adviser, which had been submitted to the CPS as part of its deliberations. These statements, spanning from December 2023 to August 2025, provide a rare window into official assessments of China’s strategic posture and its intelligence activities in relation to the United Kingdom.
The first of Collins’s statements, issued under the Conservative government in December 2023, characterised China as an “epoch-defining challenge,” stressing that Beijing’s intelligence services were “highly capable” and engaged in “large-scale espionage operations” directed against the UK. The statement warned that such activity had the potential to undermine Britain’s interests and compromise its security, while also emphasizing the government’s intention to maintain channels for “open, constructive and predictable relations” with Beijing.
The second statement, prepared earlier in 2025 under the incoming Labour administration, echoed many of these themes. While acknowledging the “challenges” presented by an authoritarian China, it also underscored the government’s desire to preserve a productive economic relationship with the world’s second-largest economy.
By August 2025, in his third statement to the CPS, Collins reiterated the consistent view of successive British governments: China represents a serious and ongoing espionage threat, but engagement remains necessary. He articulated the government’s framework in carefully balanced terms: “We will cooperate where we can, compete where we need to; and challenge where we must, including on issues of national security.”
Starmer, speaking in Parliament during Prime Minister’s Questions, sought to clarify the political context of the disclosures. He stressed that the evidence submitted to the CPS reflected the stance of the Conservative government at the time the alleged offences were said to have occurred, rather than any position taken by the current Labour administration. While noting his disappointment at the CPS’s decision to drop the case, Starmer emphasized that Conservative-era reviews had been deliberately measured in tone. Those documents, he explained, did not designate China as an “enemy,” but instead advocated heightened national security protections alongside continued diplomatic engagement.
The Prime Minister also sought to draw a line under any suggestion of political interference under his leadership, asserting: “Under this Government, no minister or special adviser played any role in the provision of evidence.” However, he carefully distinguished this from the conduct of his predecessors, adding: “I cannot speak to what role, if any, ministers or special advisers in the previous government may have played.”
The publication of these statements thus highlights both the continuity and the delicacy of Britain’s official stance towards China: a recognition of the profound risks posed by Beijing’s espionage capabilities, tempered by the pragmatic acknowledgment of economic interdependence and the diplomatic necessity of engagement. At the same time, the collapse of the espionage case—and the controversy surrounding it—has exposed deep political sensitivities about how governments balance security, transparency, and the imperatives of international diplomacy.