The director of public prosecutions has said the China spy case collapsed because a top national security official could not say the country had been classed as an "enemy" when the Conservatives were in power.
In a letter to MPs, Stephen Parkinson said the unwillingness of Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Collins to say that China had been an active threat to national security between 2021 and 2023 was "fatal to the case".
Parkinson has been under pressure to explain why two men were charged with spying only for the case against them to collapse 16 months later without going to trial.
A political blame game erupted over the case - but the focus has now switched to the role of officials. And government witnesses are expected to query some of the DPP's written evidence when they appear before the parliamentary committee next week.
In April 2024, Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry were charged under the Official Secrets Act 1911 over allegations that they had passed information to a Chinese intelligence agent.
