Chris Cash, the former parliamentary researcher acquitted of spying for China, has told the BBC he was a "convenient fall guy" for UK police and security services who wanted to put foreign espionage threats "on the map". In his first interview since the case collapsed, Cash shared more than 6,000 messages exchanged with his friend Christopher Berry — the material at the heart of the prosecution case — and said he would "never do anything" to harm UK national security.

The messages at the centre of the case

The 6,273 messages, sent on Signal between January 2022 and March 2023, show a Chinese official seeking information about sensitive UK political matters, including the 2022 Conservative leadership contest. Berry described a "secret" meeting with a senior Chinese official and said Beijing feared a sanctioned British MP might be promoted to the cabinet. According to court documents, Berry compiled 34 reports for a man linked to China's state spy agency. Cash's solicitor has told the BBC the messages are genuine. Cash says he regarded the exchanges as routine political discussion, adding: "We weren't working with classified information."

Why the case collapsed

Both men were arrested in March 2023 and charged in April 2024 under the Official Secrets Act 1911, but the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case in September 2025, weeks before trial, after officials could not say China had been classed as an "enemy", as the 1911 Act requires. Cash, who had no government security clearance and directed the China Research Group founded by Conservative MPs Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, admits he was "unprofessional and naive" to send "gossiping" texts. Berry declined to comment on the BBC report but has always denied wrongdoing. The Chinese Embassy in London has called the allegations "completely fabricated and nothing but malicious slander".