Oh dear. It seems that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has blundered again. The latest furore is about the agency’s decision to drop a China espionage case that alleged the involvement of more than two dozen reports to Beijing intelligence. The case collapsed yesterday and ‘not guilty’ verdicts were entered after Tom Little KC, the prosecutor, told the Old Bailey ‘we simply cannot continue to prosecute this case’. The trial was due to begin next month but Little said that the evidential threshold had not been met. Cue outrage from various Sinosceptics….
A quintet of senior parliamentarians have now written to Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, demanding answers. Three MPs – Neil O’Brien, Tom Tugendhat and Sir Iain Duncan Smith – have co-signed a letter along with Lord Alton and Tim Loughton. All five have been sanctioned by China. They argue that it is ‘manifestly clear from the government statement’ yesterday that ‘those with access to sensitive information believed the case against the defendants to be very strong.’ With that in mind, they want answers to the following questions:
- What advice did the CPS receive from the government regarding the designation of the Chinese Government as an enemy prior to the charging of Mr Berry and Mr Cash in April 2024?
- What advice did the CPS receive from the government on the same subject prior to the dropping of charges on September 15, 2025?
- What, if any, were the other reasons for dropping the charges against these two men?
They conclude by warning that ‘in a case of this seriousness’ the ‘inability to pursue the case has far reaching implications for national security.’ Don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer…
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