Why collapse of China spy case led to a political row

A major prosecution against two British men accused of spying for China has collapsed in a heap of ignominy and recrimination.

- SEAN O'GRADY

The head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has, very unusually, blamed the government for this humiliation; the prime minister (himself a former head of the CPS) has denied any such thing.

It has raised some awkward questions about Britain’s increasingly complicated relationship with the People’s Republic...

What exactly were they accused of?

Details are unclear, and now we may never know the full picture, but they were charged under the 1911 Official Secrets Act. Christopher Cash, 30, a parliamentary researcher from Whitechapel, east London, and Christopher Berry, 33, a teacher from Witney, Oxfordshire, were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state, in breach of the Official Secrets Act, between January 2022 and February 2023.

They were arrested in March 2023 and charged in April 2024 with providing prejudicial information to a foreign state.

Why did the trial collapse?