Starmer is under growing fire following the collapse of the China spies case. The PM is still blaming the Tories, claiming they failed to treat China as a “threat” back in 2023, which was why evidence wasn’t provided. But now a second former Cabinet Secretary has publicly challenged that claim…
Lord Sedwill, who served as Cabinet Secretary from 2018-2020 and as National Security Adviser under May and Johnson, said he found Starmer’s explanation “very hard to understand.” He added:
“I mean, the truth is that, of course, China is a national security threat to the UK. I’m genuinely puzzled, to put it politely, about the basis on which this trial has fallen apart. We introduced the National Security Act because the Official Secrets Act was not fit for purpose.”
Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary from 2020-2024, said last night:
“Going back over years, we have had heads of our intelligence agencies describing in public the threat that China poses to our national and economic security interests.”
Meanwhile, the Integrated Review Refresh – published in March 2023 – explicitly said:
“The UK will further strengthen our national security protections in those areas where the actions of the CCP pose a threat to our people, prosperity and security. This means protecting ourselves at home, particularly our economy, democratic freedoms, critical national infrastructure, supply chains and our ability to generate strategic advantage through science and technology.”
Starmer said during a press conference in India today that “no ministers were involved in any of the decisions” and that “the evidence in this case was drawn up at the time and reflected the position as it was at the time.” The Starmer-Powell China scandal shows no signs of fading…
