Did Keir Starmer's government quash an espionage case to curry favour with China?

--

There's fury in Westminster over the case of two alleged China spies which collapsed last month. Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of deliberately quashing the prosecution to appease China, blaming National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell. The government denies this, and Keir Starmer has said Powell has his "full support".

So what really happened? And why does China matter so much to the UK government?

Oli Dugmore is joined by George Eaton and Katie Stallard.

LISTEN AD-FREE:

📱Download the New Statesman app

MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:

❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday

⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning

✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday

JOIN US:

⭐️ Get full access to all our reporting and analysis with a print + digital subscription

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK needs a China reset

Politics from the New Statesman