CHINA CRISIS

Spy boss: Of course the risk is real | PM 'could not step in' as case folded

- BY LIZZY BUCHAN

THE head of MI5 said his staff disrupted a threat linked to China only last week, after a spying prosecution collapsed due to the country not being recognised as an enemy.

Sir Ken McCallum, the security service's boss, added that Chinese spies posed a threat to Britain's national security every day - with the caveat that the UK-China relationship is complex.

His comments came amid a row over the collapse of the espionage court case against Christopher Berry, 33, and Christopher Cash, 30, who were accused of passing important secrets to Beijing.

Both men deny wrongdoing.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it dropped the case last month because there was no evidence that China was considered an enemy of the UK at the time when the men are said to have passed it secrets - December 2021 to February 2023, under Tory governments.

Sir Ken said it was not his role to comment on the CPS decision.

But he added: "Do Chinese state actors present a UK national security threat? "The answer is, of course, yes they do, every day." Downing Street explained why Keir Starmer did not intervene to stop the collapse of the China spy case when the CPS said it would withdraw the prosecution.

His spokesman said: "The suggestion that the Prime Minister should have stepped in at this point is frankly absurd.