"Parkinson has blamed the collapse of the case on a failure by the government to provide enough evidence showing China was a threat to the UK's national security. But calls for clarification have grown after the government published witness statements on Wednesday outlining the threat posed by Beijing. The chairs of four parliamentary committees have given Parkinson, the boss of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), until Friday next week to answer a series of questions about why the case collapsed."
"Another parliamentary group, the intelligence and security committee, has launched a separate probe into how classified material was used during the case. Mr Cash and Mr Berry were charged last year under the 1911 Official Secrets Act, accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between December 2021 and February 2023. This legislation requires prosecutors to prove that suspects have passed on material that could be "directly or indirectly useful to an enemy"."
The director of public prosecutions is being pressed to explain why charges against two men accused of spying for China were dropped. Parkinson attributed the case collapse to the government failing to provide sufficient evidence that China posed a national security threat, even as the government later published witness statements outlining that threat. Four parliamentary committee chairs have given Parkinson a deadline to answer questions and may require him to give evidence. Separate parliamentary inquiries have been launched, including a probe into the use of classified material. The accused were charged under the 1911 Official Secrets Act for alleged activity between December 2021 and February 2023.
Read at www.bbc.com
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