The Attorney General has condemned allegations of political interference in the prosecution of two alleged Chinese spies as ‘disgraceful’ and ‘baseless.’
Lord Richard Hermer said he had been both disappointed and surprised that the trial of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry had collapsed.
He told the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy that he was extremely concerned about the impact the case has on public faith in Britain’s security strategy and criminal justice system.
And he also hit back at allegations the Prime Minister and the national security advisor Jonathan Powell had interfered with the case and caused its collapse.
The prosecution offered no evidence when it became clear that deputy national security advisor Matt Collins would not state that China represented a threat to the UK’s national security in his evidence.
‘I deprecate some of the baseless accusations that were levelled against the Prime Minister and against our national security advisor, Mr Powell, when this information, the decision of the prosecution was announced, that seeks to suggest that politicians had somehow improperly interfered in this case to stop the prosecution,’ Lord Hermer said.
‘Effectively, allegations that they were perverting the course of justice against the national security interests of this country.
‘Now those are disgraceful allegations to make without evidence. They were baseless, as the evidence of the DPP and the Cabinet Secretary have made plain.
‘That I was very concerned about, and it’s again why I welcome this process, because it allows us to shine a light to see that we might not be happy with the decision, we might be disappointed with the decision that’s reached at the end of the day, but it’s these are decisions that are made by independent parts of our state, independent of politicians, and that is for the benefit of us all.’
Lord Hermer also clashed with former Conservative cabinet minister Sir Gavin Williamson about a meeting on September 1 between officials to discuss the trial.
The attorney general claimed there was nothing improper about the meeting, which included Mr Powell and Sir Oliver Robbins, the permanent secretary in the Foreign Office.
The problem which derailed the case was the Official Secrets Act itself, which was ‘not fit for purpose,’ Lord Hermer said.
If updated legislation had been in place at the time of the alleged offending, the Attorney General said he had ‘no doubt’ the prosecution would have gone to trial.
He told the committee: ‘Standing back in this case, where’s the problem? What is it, because I think we should all be concerned to try and identify what lessons can be learnt.
‘I’m clear in my mind that certainly one very significant problem here was the Act. The Act wasn’t fit for purpose, it was out of date.’ Lord Hermer said that in 2017, the Law Commission flagged that the term ‘enemy’ was ‘deeply problematic’ and ‘would give rise to difficulties in future prosecutions.’
It emerged last week that the word was removed from an early version of Mr Collins’ witness statement.
Lord Hermer said Parliament was right to pass the National Security Act 2023 that takes away problems faced by prosecutors in the case and means it merely needs to be proved that ‘information was being passed to a foreign power.’
‘Speaking frankly, I don’t understand why it took Parliament so long to pass that. Had that Act been in force at the relevant time for this case, between 21-23, I have no doubt that the prosecution would have proceeded to trial,’ he added.
Lord Hermer said that a skilled defence counsel would have pointed to comments made in April 2023 by the then foreign secretary James Cleverley that China could not be neatly summarised by a single phrase such as a ‘threat.’
These comments were made before Mr Cash and Mr Berry were charged last April.
Both men deny all allegations of wrongdoing.
