Starmer attempts to defuse China spy fiasco as tempers flare
Keir Starmer is looking to defuse a fiasco surrounding the collapse of an alleged Chinese spy case in parliament in the face of ongoing questions over whether national security advisers discussed the details of the case in private meetings.
Starmer told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday that the government would release witness statements relating to spy charges brought against former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and the academic Christopher Berry, documents provided to the Crown Prosecution Service under the previous Conservative government and the current Labour government.
The “substantive” witness statement relating to the deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins dates to December 2023 while two further “additional” statements were offered to the CPS in February 2025 and August 2025.
Starmer is not believed to have seen the witness statements until this morning.
He also continued to blame the previous government for not updating the Official Secrets Act legislation between 2021 and 2023, and for failing to label China a threat at the time the alleged offences took place.
“Given the information contained, we will conduct a short process, but I want to make clear I intend to publish the witness statements in full,” Starmer said.
“Let me say this, had the Conservatives been quicker in updating our legislation, a review that started in 2015, these individuals could have been prosecuted, and we would not be where we are.”
Starmer questioned on meeting between security advisers
The Tory opposition are urging the government to publish minutes surrounding a meeting between national security adviser Jonathan Powell and deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins in which the spy case was discussed.
Questions are also being asked of whether Starmer asked why the case collapsed when he was informed by the CPS a few days before it was publicly announced.
A Downing Street spokesperson has emphasised the government could not interfere with the spy case given the independence of the CPS, and reiterated that the government provided evidence through statements in February and August this year.
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch accused the Prime Minister of “more obfuscation” and added that the case “stinks of a cover-up”.
“He can’t tell us why his government did not provide evidence that China was a threat. I suspect those [witness] statements won’t prove it either. He’s blaming his civil servants. He’s blaming the media.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said that, before a CPS statement on Tuesday night confirmed that the witness statements could be published, prosecutors said “witnesses have an expectation that their evidence will not be publicly discussed”.
Reporters had been as late as Tuesday afternoon that the government believed the evidence could not be published due to objections from the CPS.
“The CPS had also advised that to do so, or to do so in some cases, but not in others, would likely affect the confidence of witnesses in coming forward and hamper the interests of justice,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman said.
“However, given the CPS has now greenlit the publication, we will release the three statements from the deputy national security adviser after a short process. We will release the fullest version possible.”
Alicia Kearns, the former chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee who was allegedly spied on, said Starmer did not “address the wider point” about discussions between security advisers.
“Obviously [security advisers] wouldn’t have gone through each individual piece of evidence. [The] question is whether there was a political steer,” she said in a post on X.
A No 10 spokesman also said there was a “bundle of evidence” available beyond the witness statements due to be published.