Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions demanding the CPS resurrects the Chinese spy case if Labour declares China a threat to national security. Yesterday, Labour hardened its line, with minister Ruth Smeeth saying in the Lords that the government does regard China as a threat…
In the letter it says that DPP Stephen Parkinson confirmed the points below:
- For the purposes of prosecution, “enemy” for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act 1911 includes a country which represents, at the time of the offence, a threat to the national security of the UK, as held in the recent High Court decision (R v Roussev and others 2024);
- You remain satisfied that the decision to charge the case, made under the Conservative government in April 2024, was correct; and
- Despite requests made over many months, the new government did not provide the evidence to support the proposition that China represents a threat to national security, which would have enabled prosecution. By late August you had concluded that such evidence would not be forthcoming and therefore the case collapsed.
Now the Tories are demanding that if the government provides the evidence the CPS requested, they reopen the case. Meanwhile Security Minister Dan Jarvis shifted the blame onto Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins for the case collapsing. Pressure piling…
Read the letter in full below:
