Sir Lindsay Hoyle was left ‘very angry’ after he was told he cannot bring a private prosecution against two men accused of spying for China.
The Commons Speaker also suggested he would ‘support’ others if they pursued private action against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry.
Mr Cash and Mr Berry – who both deny wrongdoing – were facing trial for allegedly passing information to Beijing between 2021 and 2023, but the prosecution was discontinued in September.
Sir Lindsay said he did not ‘accept’ the outcome and was still ‘very frustrated’ after the case collapsed.
‘I don’t like it. I don’t accept it. So much so, I wanted to know if I could do a private prosecution. We’ve taken top legal advice.
‘My problem is there is no locus for me because everything I’ve tried, we just can’t get it there.’
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Week In Westminster programme, he added: ‘But it doesn’t stop us asking others who may be able to take a private prosecution and what support can we give them.
‘It is a frustration, yes I’m angry, it must not happen again.’
The House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he was ‘very frustrated’ after the case against two men accused of spying for China collapsed
Christopher Cash (right) and Christopher Berry (left) – who both deny wrongdoing – were facing trial for allegedly passing information to Beijing between 2021 and 2023, but the prosecution was discontinued in September
Sir Lindsay had previously said he was considering private action following the decision to drop the charges, which he warned could leave Parliament vulnerable to espionage.
The Crown Prosecution Service has said the case could not progress because the Government’s deputy national security adviser Matt Collins was unwilling to classify China as an active threat to national security.
Mr Collins has said he had provided evidence of a ‘range of threats’ posed by China but had not described the country as a ‘generic’ threat because that was not the position of the then-Tory government.
Earlier this week, the Attorney General blamed the collapse of case on ‘out of date’ UK espionage laws, which he said were no longer ‘fit for purpose’.
Lord Richard Hermer said the use of the term ‘enemy’ in the Official Secrets Act, which dates back to 1911, threw up difficulties for prosecutors.
He said the National Security Act 2023 had addressed this problem by replacing the word with a requirement for prosecutors to prove merely that information had been ‘passed to a foreign power’.
He told Parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) on Wednesday: ‘Speaking frankly, I don’t understand why it took Parliament so long to pass that.
‘Had that Act been in force at the relevant time for this case, between (2021-23), I have no doubt that the prosecution would have proceeded to trial.’
Last month, it was revealed that Mr Berry was detained at Heathrow carrying a suitcase with £4,000 inside it.
Mr Berry – a 33-year-old academic from Witney in Oxfordshire – was stopped with the large sum of money in February 2023.
It would not be for almost another six weeks before he was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
It is believed Mr Berry was given the money by his Chinese intelligence handler, known only as ‘Alex’. It is unclear whether the cash was held by the police, or what currency it was in.
Mr Berry was stopped by police under Schedule 3 Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, which is used by police when there is suspicion of ‘hostile activity’ involving a foreign state.
They also uncovered a person on his phones believed to be a Chinese intelligent agent.
Chinese spies commissioned at least 34 reports from Mr Berry on subjects of political interest, prosecutors alleged.
Of these reports, ten of them were deemed prejudicial to national security and British prosecutors suspected that Cai Qi, a confidant of President Xi and senior Chinese official, was in receipt of intelligence from Westminster.
In a statement in October, the Metropolitan Police told the Times newspaper: ‘A man in his thirties was subject to a stop at Heathrow airport on 2 February 2023 under Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. He was not arrested and inquiries continued.’