Robert Newcombe comments on the collapse of the China espionage case, in The Daily Mail, The Independent and The Standard

Robert Newcombe has commented on the collapse of a major espionage case after prosecutors dropped charges against two men accused of spying for China, with the director of public prosecutions blaming the government’s failure to provide evidence that China constituted a national security threat.

“Given the complexity of the relationship between the UK and China, the collapse of the prosecution as a result of a failure of the Government to provide a witness to prove that China is an enemy is not surprising.

“The problem lies in the wording of the 1911 Official Secrets Act, which uses the word “enemy” in section 1(1) – Penalties for Spying. A solution to protect the UK’s interests might have been to have amended the Act adding the words ‘or competitor nation’, with a list of these competitor nations scheduled to the Act.

“The majority of the provisions of the National Security Act 2023 came into force on 20th December 2023. Certain espionage offences alleged to have been committed before that date will be liable to prosecution under the provisions of the Official Secrets Act 1911 notwithstanding the fact that this act was repealed by the National Security Act 2023, given the saving provisions of section 16 of the Interpretation Act 1978”.

Robert’s comments were published in The Daily Mail, The Independent, The Standard and 165 regional publications, 9 October 2025.