Overview
- Attorney General Lord Hermer and Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones have been called to a public hearing on October 28 by Parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.
- They must submit written answers by noon on October 23 to questions about government assessments, evidential processes and oversight responsibilities in the case.
- The CPS dropped Official Secrets Act charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry in September, with the DPP citing insufficient government evidence of a China threat during the 2021–23 period.
- The committee’s questions ask Jones to state whether China poses a direct threat to UK national security and whether the government’s assessment has changed since 2021, and ask Hermer about his superintendence of the DPP.
- The panel is also scrutinizing related decisions on China’s proposed embassy at the former Royal Mint after a planning ruling was postponed, as it presses ministers on security risks and seeks further responses from the DPP this week.