Government to respond to Commons urgent question on China spy case witness statements – UK politics live

A minister will reply to a request for a statement ‘on the three witness statements in relation to alleged breach of Official Secrets Act on behalf of China’Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, was the government spokesperson on the media this morning. As Eleni Courea reports, asked about the China spy case witness statements, he said it was up to the CPS to explain why the prosecution was dropped. He told Sky News:I believe the DPP [Stephen Parkinson, who as director of public prosecutions is head of the CPS] told MPs yesterday that he felt the evidence was 95% of the way there, but there was a 5% gap that was missing. I think he’s the best person to explain what that 5% that was missing was.For the avoidance of any doubt, I routinely spoke and shared information with Christopher Berry about Chinese and British politics. He was my friend and these were matters we were both passionately interested in. I believed him to be as critical of and concerned about the Chinese Communist Party as I was. I believed him to be a source of useful information, as he lived in China. That information would have been used to the benefit of the UK. It was inconceivable to me that he would deliberately pass on any information to Chinese intelligence, even if that information was not sensitive. Mr Berry told me that he was working for a strategic advisory company in China, and that he was helping clients trade and invest in the UK. A small amount of the information I gave to him was provided in that context. However, this was all either information that was publicly available, information I was already encouraged to share with journalists as a routine part of my job or was just political gossip that formed part of the everyday Westminster rumour mill. I was entirely open about my relationship with Mr Berry. I did not ever receive money for information which I provided.I cannot emphasise my position strongly enough. I have lost a career I loved for an allegation against me of which I am entirely innocent. Continue reading...

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