China breached high-level security systems to obtain “vast amounts” of classified government information over a period of many years, Dominic Cummings has claimed.
Boris Johnson’s former adviser said he and the then prime minister were told about the breach in 2020 and that it involved so-called Strap material, a government classification for highly sensitive intelligence material.
He said that fundamental infrastructure for transferring sensitive data around the British state was compromised “for years”. He did not say how the system had been breached but that he would be willing to share what he knew with MPs if they were to hold an inquiry.
But the Cabinet Office has rejected the claim as “untrue”. “It is untrue to claim that the systems we use to transfer the most sensitive government information have been compromised,” a spokesperson said.
Mr Cummings told The Times: “What I’m saying is that some Strap stuff was compromised and vast amounts of data classified as extremely secret and extremely dangerous for any foreign entity to control was compromised.
“Material from intelligence services. Material from the National Security Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. Things the government has to keep secret. If they’re not secret, then there are very, very serious implications for it.”
Downing Street on Thursday refused to deny that “any” sensitive information was stored on the allegedly compromised systems. The prime minister’s official spokesman said that the “most sensitive” information was not contained on any of the systems, but would not rule out that “any” sensitive information could have been.
Mr Cummings’ intervention came amid serious questions over national security and government policy towards China after the abandonment of the China spying case trial. The case against Christopher Cash, 30, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, 33, a teacher, was dropped this year.
As part of an attempt to draw a line under the row, Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday published three witness statements that formed part of the now collapsed case against the two men accused of spying for China.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the case collapsed because the government’s evidence did not show that China represented a threat to national security at the time of the alleged offences.
But the government’s deputy national security adviser repeatedly described the “threat” posed by Beijing in the witness statements, piling pressure on the CPS to explain why it unexpectedly dropped charges.
Matt Collins said Chinese intelligence services were "highly capable and conduct large scale espionage operations'' against the UK, which “threaten the UK's economic prosperity and resilience and the integrity of our democratic institutions”.
But he added that the government was "committed to pursuing a positive relationship'' with Beijing.
In the three witness statements, he also told prosecutors it was his assessment that the two men accused of spying for China acted in a way that was a danger to the “safety” and “interests” of the UK, handing over material that would be “useful” to the Chinese state. They deny any wrongdoing.
The evidence also reveals extraordinary new details about the allegations – including that one alleged China spy told another “you’re in spy territory now”. Mr Collins also alleges in his statement that information was leaked to China about the Tory leadership race.
Ministers hope the release of the documents will prove the Labour government did not force the case to collapse - and have now urged the head of the CPS to explain why it was dropped.
Asked if director of public prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson was the right man for the job, minister Stephen Kinnock told Sky News: “I’m not going to comment on that.”, adding: “I believe the DPP told MPs yesterday that he felt the evidence was 95 per cent of the way there, but there was a 5 per cent gap that was missing.
“I think he’s the best person to explain what that 5 per cent was missing was.”
But the Conservatives said the witness statements showed “the extent of the threat that China poses to the UK, and makes it all the more shocking that the prime minister knew of the imminent collapse of this trial, but did nothing to stop it”.
Sir Keir has insisted the “substantive” evidence was submitted under the Conservatives and supplementary statements handed to the CPS subsequently reflected the Tory administration’s position.
Mr Cummings called it “absolutely puerile nonsense” to suggest that whether to define China as a threat is a “difficult semantic question”.
“Anyone who has been read in at a high level with the intelligence services on China knows that the word threat doesn’t even begin to cover it,” he said.
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