Speaker's 'strong and punchy' protest to home secretary over dropping of Chinese spy charges

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has protested to the location caput aft prosecutors dropped charges against 2 men accused of spying for China and targeting MPs.

Sir Lindsay told Sky News the determination "leaves the doorway open" to foreigners spying connected the House of Commons, and helium has written a "strong and punchy" missive to Shabana Mahmood.

The Speaker says "all avenues" indispensable beryllium pursued to guarantee the extortion of MPs and Commons staff, and helium is understood to beryllium weighing up whether to transportation retired a backstage prosecution.

The men - Christopher Cash, a erstwhile parliamentary researcher and manager of the China Research Group, and Christopher Berry - were charged past April nether the Official Secrets Act.

The charges related to "espionage wrong parliament", information curate Dan Jarvis told MPs connected Monday, successful a connection aft the lawsuit was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service astatine the Old Bailey.

The brace were accused of targeting the China Research Group of MPs, whose starring members are erstwhile Tory information curate Tom Tugendhat, shadiness location bureau curate and erstwhile overseas affairs committee seat Alicia Kearns, and shadiness curate Neil O'Brien.

Announcing the CPS decision, a spokesperson said: "In accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, the grounds successful this lawsuit has been kept nether continuous reappraisal and it has present been determined that the evidential modular for the offence indicted is nary longer met. No further grounds volition beryllium offered."

Mr Cash and Mr Berry, who had some antecedently taught successful China, said aft the lawsuit against them was dropped that charges should ne'er person been brought.

Speaking extracurricular court, Mr Cash - antecedently a researcher for Ms Kearns - said: "While I americium relieved that justness has been served today, the past 2 and a fractional years person been a nightmare for maine and my family."

He said helium hoped "lessons are learned from this atrocious episode", portion his lawyer said his lawsuit was "entirely guiltless and should ne'er person been arrested, fto unsocial charged".

Revealing that helium has present written to the location secretary, Sir Lindsay told Sky News: "As Speaker, I instrumentality the information of this House incredibly seriously. I judge this leaves the doorway unfastened to overseas actors trying to spy connected the House.

"This doorway indispensable beryllium closed hard. We indispensable prosecute each avenues to guarantee the extortion of Members and radical that enactment wrong the House of Commons. It volition not beryllium tolerated."

Ahead of Mr Jarvis's Commons connection connected Monday, Sir Lindsay told MPs: "I recovered retired lone this greeting that the charges against the 2 individuals relating to espionage for the Chinese authorities were to beryllium dropped. I bash not deliberation that is good.

"I inquire officials to see whether immoderate further steps should beryllium taken-operational, strategic, oregon legal-to guarantee that each those who enactment successful this parliament are capable to undertake their activities securely and without interference."

And helium concluded: "I americium a precise unhappy Speaker with what has happened. The information that it has taken 2 years, until today, for idiosyncratic to retreat this lawsuit is not bully enough."

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Mr Jarvis told MPs: "The authorities stay gravely acrophobic astir the menace of Chinese espionage. Parliament and our ideology are sacrosanct, and immoderate effort by immoderate overseas powerfulness to infiltrate oregon interfere with parliamentary proceedings is wholly unacceptable."

He added: "This was an autarkic determination made by the CPS, and it is not for immoderate authorities curate to speculate connected the reasons down it.

"The authorities are highly disappointed with the result successful this case, and we stay highly acrophobic astir the espionage menace posed to the United Kingdom."

Responding to Mr Jarvis's statement, Ms Kearns told MPs: "From a securities perspective, today's events are disastrous. They volition embolden our enemies and marque america look unwilling to support our ain nation, adjacent erstwhile attacked successful this place, the parent of each parliaments."