"The UK's failed attempt to bring a prosecution against two alleged Chinese spies was "shambolic", "beset by confusion" and suffered from "systemic failures", a cross-party group of MPs and peers has concluded. The high-profile espionage case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry collapsed in 2024, when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided there was not sufficient evidence to show that China was a threat to UK national security at the time of the alleged offences."
"who described China as "the biggest state-based threat to the UK's economic security" and pointed to state-linked cyber attacks against government and commercial targets, according to the MPs' report. The chief prosecution witness in the case, DNSA Matthew Collins, wrote in witness statements that "China's espionage operations threaten the UK's economic prosperity and resilience, and the integrity of democratic institutions", and that China was behind "malicious cyber activity ... targeting democratic institutions and Parliamentarians as part of large-scale espionage campaigns"."
A high-profile espionage case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry collapsed in 2024 when the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence that China posed a national security threat at the time of the alleged offences. Deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins provided witness statements describing China as the biggest state-based threat to the UK's economic security and citing state-linked cyber attacks and large-scale espionage campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians. The two accused, a former parliamentary researcher and a teacher, were charged under the Official Secrets Act 1911 and were later acquitted after the government dropped the case. A cross-party group of MPs and peers described the prosecution as shambolic, beset by confusion and suffering systemic failures.
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