‘Evidence will be published’

Starmer vows

- DAVID HUGHES Press Association

KEIR STARMER has promised to publish the evidence submitted by the UK Government as part of the collapsed China spy case.

The Prime Minister said he intends to publish the witness statements prepared by deputy national security adviser (DNSA) Matt Collins in full.

Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party has been pressing ministers over their handling of the collapsed trial of Christopher Cash, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry.

Both men, who deny wrongdoing, had been accused of passing secrets to China, but charges against them were dropped last month.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the case collapsed because the UK Government's evidence did not show that China represented a threat to national security at the time of the alleged offences.

Mr Starmer told MPs: “I’m deeply disappointed by the outcome, we wanted to see prosecutions.”

He said Mr Collins had produced an initial witness statement in 2023, supplemented by two further “short statements”.