The Government’s Deputy National Security Adviser warned in 2023 that China was carrying out “extreme intelligence” against the UK, when they were asked to give evidence at the trial of two men accused of spying for China.
Toveli’s three statements on Matthew Collins were published by Down the Road on Wednesday as the government faces questions from Ministers and MPS, after the sudden charging of Cash and Christopher Berry last month.
Both men pleaded not guilty.
The Director of Public Prosecutions said the case was dropped because the evidence was not available to the government, which is closely monitoring China as a national security threat.
A second Witness statement, written by Mr Collins in February 2025, said China’s demand threatened “the UK’s economic prosperity and economic stability and resilience”.
A third Witness Statement published in August This year reframed the UK’s view of the challenge posed by China.
But the two statements made clear the government was “committed to pursuing good economic relations with China”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he will publish the country’s deputy prime minister after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of a “cover-up”.
A spokesperson for the lawyers said there are many unanswered questions about the scandal “including the extent of the national security adviser’s involvement [Jonathan Powell].
Sir Keir said he would publish the statements after Kemi Badenoch accused him of a “cover-up”. [Reuters]
The first of the three statements was given by prosecutors in December 2023, when Mr Collins served under the Conservative government.
Second and third statements are sent this year after the project takes effect.
The documents show that in December 2023, Mr Collins concluded: “Chinese intelligence services are very capable and carry out major operations against the UK and other international partners to further the interests and security of the UK.”
In February 2025, he said: “China is an authoritarian state, with different values to the UK. This presents mutual challenges to the UK’s economic security.”
And in a third statement on the website, he said “the operation of espionage in Espionage threatens the prosperity of the UK economy and the strength, and integrity of our democratic institutions”.
He revealed a number of actions by the UK authorities that he believes are behind the scenes, including a cyber attack on the UK electoral commission between 2021 and 2023.
In his 2025 statements, Mr Collins made it clear the government wanted good economic relations with China, writing: “It is important for me to stress that I insist, even if the government is committed to pursuing good economic relations with China.
“The Government believes that the UK must continue to engage with international partners through trade and investment to grow our economy while ensuring that our security and values are not compromised.”
When the second statement was signed by Mr Collins, it was mistakenly written as February 2024. But the government said it was signed and sent to prosecutors in February 2025, when they had been briefed on the CPS at the time.
BBC News understands that Mr Collins thought he had given enough evidence for the prosecution to proceed when he delivered his Third Witness statement in August 2025.
A government source pointed to comments made by him in which he described “the growing threat posed by China to the UK” as an example of the UK “because he believed he had said enough to satisfy the CPS prosecutor to be prosecuted by the prosecutor.”
It is also understood that the CPS was contacted by Mr Collins after his first Witness statement to ask for more clarification on the threat posed by China, so that it is clear what the officer will need to say in the next statement, in order to meet the CPS limit.
New data for visual inspection
In his first statement, Mr Collins wrote in detail about the allegations made against Mr Cash and Mr Berry which he said were based on information provided to him by opposition police.
Mr Collins said in this 2023 statement “It has been established that the Chinese Government employed Mr Berry as an agent and successfully directed him to use the Commons China Research Group (CRG) and other fakes.
MR Cash worked as a Parliamentary Researcher and was involved with the CRG, which was set up by a group of Conservative MPs looking at the UK’s response to China’s rise.
In his statement, Mr Collins said that in July 2022, Mr Berry met with a senior Chinese Communist Party leader and that he understood Manu.
Mr Collins said Mr Cash had responded to Mr Berry with a number of messages, including one reading: “He’s in the spy ring now.”
Mr Collins also said that the information gathered was passed on to a person named “Alex” who was believed to be an agent of the Chinese state.
He said that in assessing whether this was interfering with security or the interests of the state, he was on the basis of the facts, as suspected, by the police who argued that it was true.
This includes information about Tom Tugendhat MP’s ministerial hopes and Jeremy’s chance to hunt for the final leadership race.
In a new statement released on Wednesday evening, Manu Cash said he wants to reiterate his ‘absolute innocence’.
He said: “I was put in an impossible position. I didn’t have the sunlight of a government trial to show my innocence, and I shouldn’t have taken part in the case in the media.
“Statements made in public without context would have given the case.”
While Mr.
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to fast-track the Commons documents on Wednesday [House of Commons]
Mr Cash and Mr Berry are facing charges under a secret law made in April 2024, when the Conservatives were in power.
They were accused of gathering and providing discriminatory information to the security and enforcement of the situation between December 2021 and February 2023.
The Director of Public Prosecutions said the case is being dropped because evidence is not available for the government to refer to China as a national security threat.
He said there was also enough evidence when the charges were initially brought against the two men, the example set in another case earlier this year means that China would have needed China’s security “at the time of national security.
Speaking to BBC Country this evening, the former Crown attorney said he found the fallout “surprising”.
He admitted the words “threat to our national security” were not used, but added: “When you read a number of these statements, you can be left without doubt that China was a threat to our national security.”
Conservatives have said the government did not provide enough evidence because it did not want to damage relations with Beijing.
However, the Labor Government has argued that because the charges are suspected, the prosecutor may be removed from his position in China at the time.
The third Witness speech released, however, contains lines that reflect the position of workers in China, as defined in its 2024 manifesto.
Speaking to Prime Minister Ngudunuli’s questions earlier, Sir Keir said: “Under this government, no minister or special counsel played any role in the provision of evidence.”
