The government and CPS lines on the Chinese spy case are increasingly inconsistent.
Government: our evidence did not belatedly or materially change
CPS: a belated material change meant the prosecution was not viable
The stakes could not be higher: Starmer’s administration and the civil service now stand accused of frustrating the administration of justice — and thwarting a criminal trial of two serious alleged spies — in order to preserve our diplomatic position vis a vis China.
Justice is not supposed to answer to politics. And yet the government is refusing to provide even a basic outline of what transpired. Ditto the CPS.
It cannot last but both pillars of the state appear oblivious and of the view they can indefinitely say nothing.
Quote
Gabriel Pogrund
@Gabriel_Pogrund
EXCL w/@cazjwheeler
The China spy case collapsed days after Jonathan Powell — PM’s national security adviser — chaired a secret meeting in Whitehall where he told officials the government’s evidence would stop well short of branding Beijing an “enemy”
thetimes.com/article/b3fd36