This week’s partisan blame game is the wrong response to the collapse of the alleged Chinese spying case. The failure of governance runs deeper
T
he China spying row has revealed disturbing weaknesses in the processes of the UK state. It cannot be in the national interest for a case involving national security to get so close to the courts and then for it to be abandoned in what remain mysterious circumstances. Public confidence, as well as security itself, are inevitably placed at risk. But this genuinely important issue now risks being blanketed by the fog of the party-political battle at Westminster.
For the third time this week, MPs spent Thursday trading accusations about whether the Conservatives or Labour are more to blame for the fiasco of last month’s collapsed prosecution. To be fair, the latest exchanges did not descend to the abject “did-didn’t” level that was reached at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday. Politicians from Sir Keir Starmer down are fond of saying that the national interest comes before the party interest. But there has been too little evidence of that principle in the current dispute.
The main issue is not, in fact, whether China is a security threat to the UK. That is a no-brainer. Many countries, including Britain, spy on their foes – and perhaps on some of their friends too. But the threat posed by China reflects its size, wealth and values. Delivering his annual threat update on Thursday, the head of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, said that he encountered that threat on a daily basis. “Do Chinese state actors present a UK national security threat?” he asked. “The answer is, of course, yes.”
