Jonathan Powell must 'answer questions on China spy case in public'

National security adviser Jonathan Powell has been urged to appear before MPs in public to answer questions on the collapsed Chinese spy case. House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire

National security adviser Jonathan Powell has been urged to answer questions on the collapse of a Chinese spy case in public, with the government doubling down on its defence that it did not subvert the trial to maintain diplomatic ties with Beijing.

Powell is set to appear before a private committee in parliament to answer questions on whether he intervened on the case by blocking a senior civil servant from providing evidence during a trial of Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, who both deny allegations they spied for China.

But former security minister Tom Tugendhat, who publicly told parliament th