A significant political controversy has erupted following the collapse of a high-profile prosecution against two Britons, Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, who were accused of spying for China. The case, brought under the archaic 1911 Official Secrets Act, was abandoned last month by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) due to a failure to meet the evidential threshold, specifically regarding the classification of China as a threat to national security.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis has faced intense scrutiny over the government's explanation for the case's failure. He initially insisted that it was not the policy of the previous Conservative government to classify China as a national security threat at the time of the alleged offenses (late 2021 to early 2023). However, this assertion has been widely challenged, with critics pointing to numerous public statements and documents from former Conservative administrations that recognized China as a significant threat. For instance, Boris Johnson’s March 2021 integrated review described China as a “systemic challenge” and the “biggest state-based threat to the UK’s economic security.” Furthermore, the Electoral Commission was hacked by Chinese actors between August 2021 and October 2022, leading then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to declare China “the greatest state-based challenge to our national security.”

A core issue revolved around the role of Matthew Collins, the Deputy National Security Adviser, who served as the government witness. Under the 1911 Act (redefined after a July 2024 court case to require labeling China as a “current threat to national security”), Collins was required to provide statements affirming China's threat status. Despite providing three witness statements in December 2023, February 2025, and July 2025, it appears these failed to satisfy the CPS. Jarvis maintained that Collins's evidence adhered to the law and policy of the Conservatives at the time, and that