Question to the Attorney General:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether anyone in the Attorney General's Office advised against proceeding in the China spy case for diplomatic reasons, and if so, what that advice was.

No one in the Attorney General’s Office advised against proceeding in these cases for diplomatic (or any other) reasons.

As I set out in my evidence to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy on 29 October 2025, in this case, consent to prosecute was given on 3 April 2024 by the then Solicitor General. Following that date, no Law Officer intervened in the case at any stage.

The decision to offer no evidence in this case was made by the CPS without input or advice from the Law Officers.

Decisions to not proceed because of evidential reasons are made independently by the CPS. The requirement on the CPS is to inform the Attorney General of the decision after it has been taken, not to consult prior to that decision.