Tugendhat: Govt ‘threw Matt Collins under the bus’

Former Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has accused the government of “throwing Matt Collins under the bus” in its handling of the failed China spy case, calling the episode “frankly pretty low” and “a really serious incident.”

Speaking on BBC Newsnight, Tugendhat said it was unclear what had gone wrong in the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision-making but insisted the government’s explanation was inadequate. “Either by commission or omission something has failed and the government has really got to come with a better answer than what we heard today,” he said.

Tugendhat was responding to ministerial statements earlier in the day that placed responsibility for providing evidence to the CPS on Matthew Collins, the Deputy National Security Adviser. Security Minister Dan Jarvis told MPs that Collins, a career civil servant, had submitted witness statements to the CPS in December 2023, February 2024, and July 2024.

As Newsnight political editor Nick Watt explained, the first statement was given under the previous government in support of a prosecution under the 1911 Official Secrets Act, where the threshold for espionage involves material “calculated to be useful to an enemy.” Subsequent statements were submitted after a High Court ruling clarified that “enemy” could include a state representing a threat to the UK’s national security.

Watt said the government was keen to dismiss claims that Jonathan Powell, Labour’s National Security Adviser to Keir Starmer, had influenced the process. Ministers instead argued that all communications with the CPS were handled by Collins, but that prosecutors concluded the evidence did not meet the threshold for a charge even after the updated legal definition.

Tugendhat, who served as Security Minister until 2024, rejected that framing. He said the Director of Public Prosecutions had previously indicated the evidential bar was met but later said it was not, suggesting “something had changed.” He dismissed the claim that the failure was linked to a 2023 designation issue as “simply rubbish,” adding that “the courts have already shown that explanation to be false.”

Defending Collins, he said: “Matt Collins has served our country with integrity for many, many years and is a very fine public official. The idea of throwing him under the bus is frankly pretty low.”

Former National Security Adviser Sir Mark Lyall Grant also questioned both the CPS and the government’s handling of the case. “I would rather ask the question of why they brought the prosecution in the first place if they didn’t think the evidentiary threshold was there… I don’t think the DPP has covered themselves in glory,” he said.

Sir Mark added that the controversy risked complicating wider UK–China relations, including the pending decision over the location of China’s new embassy in London.

Rosena Allin-Khan MP, also appearing on the programme, said she shared concerns about external interference in Parliament. “Things get into murky waters when you have cases like this that span across a change of government,” she said, noting that omissions in the Chinese embassy application merited further scrutiny.

Tugendhat agreed, saying that once the CPS had authorised charges against two individuals linked to the political world, the case should have been allowed to proceed. “The government is responsible for justice in this country. It defends the nation and ensures access to justice, and one of those has failed pretty spectacularly in the last month,” he said.

Full discussion available on BBC iPlayer (from 12:50).
Clips on X/Twitter here and here.