“Systemic failures” rather than a conspiracy to sabotage the prosecution led to the collapse of a case against two alleged Chinese spies, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded.

In a damning report, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) criticised both the Government and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over a process beset by “confusion and misaligned expectations”.

And it cautioned against dismissing the case as a “one-off” caused by outdated espionage laws, warning that there are parallels in new legislation which must be handled carefully to prevent a similar issue from recurring.

Former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry – who both deny wrongdoing – had been accused of passing secrets to Beijing between 2021 and 2023.

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