Hard work should pay Unlock quality journalism that champions free enterprise One year for £25. | | Christopher Berry and Christopher Cash were charged with passing intelligence to China |  | Ben Riley-Smith Political Editor | What exactly caused the Chinese spy case to collapse? That is the question dominating Westminster right now. The Telegraph is digging to find out.
Today we report that MI5 and Home Office officials were blindsided by the collapse of the case.
Figures in the security services and Home Office were supportive of the prosecution and taken aback when it was dropped after two years of work.
The Telegraph previously revealed that the Government’s refusal to declare China an “enemy” in court led the CPS to abandon the prosecution.
Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry were arrested in March 2023 and charged with passing intelligence to Beijing in April 2024. The case was dropped last month.
Both men deny any wrongdoing.
The arrests and charges were made when Rishi Sunak was prime minister. Since taking office, Sir Keir Starmer has pursued an engagement policy with China.
Multiple political figures briefed on the withdrawal of the case have told The Telegraph about tensions between the Home Office and the Foreign Office.
One Westminster source who was personally briefed by Home Office and MI5 figures about why the prosecution was pulled said: “They were blindsided and p----d off.”
Another source said Dan Jarvis, the security minister, “feels like he’s been hung out to dry”, while a third source talked of Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, feeling deeply frustrated by the failure to bring the case to trial. A government spokesman said: “We do not recognise these claims.”
More may well come out in the coming days, not least when Parliament returns next week. It is one to watch.
Continue reading ➤
Analysis: Mystery of top Starmer aide and his many trips to China ➤
David Blair: Britain is now so dependent on China we dare not call it an enemy ➤ |  | Charles Hymas Home Affairs Editor | Robert Jenrick will today take on what he claims is a network of “activist” judges. For months, the shadow justice secretary and his team have been unearthing the past links of members of the judiciary to pro-migrant organisations.
They found more than 30 such activist judges, and some have continued to use social media to make political points on migration issues.
Mr Jenrick argues that this is a potential explanation for some of the “absurd” decisions by immigration tribunals that have let illegal migrants and foreign criminals avoid deportation by the Home Office.
At the Conservative Party conference, Mr Jenrick, the politician who would probably be leader if Kemi Badenoch stepped down, will announce plans to turn the clock back 20 years and return powers to appoint judges to ministers, scrapping the independent commission which currently decides.
Alongside that, there would be a new, beefed-up judicial investigative office with a specific duty and the powers to remove, or recommend that Parliament dismiss, any judge who engaged in political activism to fix the “deep rot that has infected parts of our judiciary”.
Prepare for the sparks to fly from the judiciary.
Read the full story here ➤
Grassroots Tories want pact with Reform, poll finds ➤
Elsewhere at the conference, Poppy Coburn talked to attendees about Reform, Jenrick vs Badenoch and the surprisingly sparse crowds. You can watch the video here ➤ Coming up today at the conference:
• 10am A special edition of The Telegraph’s podcast The Daily T will be recorded, featuring a guest commentator.
• 10am Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, will make his second main hall speech of the conference.
• 11.40am Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, will give his main hall speech.
• 2pm Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, will take part in a discussion with Lord Gove.
• 2.50pm Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, will appear in conversation with Tony Abbott, the former Australian prime minister.
• 6pm Robert Jenrick, Esther McVey and Sir John Hayes will discuss how the Tories can rebuild trust among working-class voters. | | Suzanne Moore Bare-faced anti-Semitism is plaguing our country’s streets, yet a decade of liberal blame has legitimised it Continue reading ➤ Adam Smith France’s chaos is a warning for Britain Continue reading ➤ Oliver Brown Gary Neville has fallen into the same trap that caught out Gary Lineker Continue reading ➤ | Make your voice heard Join our journalists in conversation on today’s biggest topics One year for £25. | | When Celia Walden last met her friend Jilly Cooper, the Rivals author, whose death was announced yesterday, it was a joyful encounter over champagne at noon. The novelist expounded on everything from her theory on why people are having less sex these days, to the importance of frivolity. Walden’s recollections echo many of those fortunate enough to have encountered Cooper – what she loved most was human connection.
Continue reading ➤
You can read Dame Jilly’s obituary here and read tributes paid to the romance novelist here ➤ | |  | | Forget drizzly bonfire nights and tepid hot chocolates, November can be a glorious month to go in search of the sun. No school holidays means beaches and hotels are likely to be quiet, and many destinations offer tempting discounts in what is usually a quiet window ahead of the Christmas rush.
The following 15 options – including short-haul spots like Malta and Morocco, and longer jaunts like Mexico and Mauritius – should all come with a tan if you’re searching for a holiday next month. Continue reading ➤ | | | John Davidson’s expletive-strewn life has been extraordinary. He suffers from Tourette’s and shot to fame in the 1980s when, as a child, he was the subject of a TV documentary: John’s Not Mad. Now a high-profile campaigner, there are dark moments in this interview where he talks candidly about trying to kill himself, and lighter moments like struggling not to swear when he collected his MBE from the late Queen. Continue reading ➤ | | | Katie Herzog had been a heavy drinker since her teenage years, but hit “what felt like rock bottom” in her 20s. “I was averaging 10 to 12 pints of cheap industrial lager per night... what little money I had I spent on alcohol,” she says. For two decades she tried everything she could to curb her drinking, from therapy to Alcoholics Anonymous, but nothing removed her desires – until she discovered a pill called naltrexone which helped her rewire her relationship with alcohol. Continue reading ➤ | | | Our WhatsApp group of 2003 World Cup winners was unusually active on Monday around 7am, writes Will Greenwood. Devastatingly, that was because Lewis Moody had given us an early heads-up that his motor neurone disease diagnosis was being announced. Authentic, optimistic and unfailingly kind, “Moodos” will give this everything.
Continue reading ➤
Rugby’s links to MND and what is being done about it ➤ | | | Telecom giants are spending billions on expanding Britain’s broadband coverage, but there’s a big problem: the number of people signing up is declining by 200,000 a year. That trend is expected to continue as users opt for new ways to connect to the internet. The likes of BT and Virgin Media O2 faces a haemorrhaging of customers. Will you be joining the exodus? Continue reading ➤ Below are two more helpful articles for you this morning: | | Model with Lightbulb c.1943 by Lee Miller | Autumn is here, and with it a sensational new season of art. There’s a wealth of exhibitions to choose from, including an irresistible show dedicated to the life of Lee Miller, the war photographer, a sumptuous survey of Marie Antoinette’s style, and a collection of David Bowie’s memorabilia that transports you back in time.
And there’s plenty more to look forward to: Tate Britain is staging a major Turner and Constable head-to-head, while the Design Museum’s forthcoming Wes Anderson retrospective, with hundreds of items from the filmmaker’s archives, will be a treat for cineastes.
Alastair Sooke, our Chief Art Critic, gives his verdict on the tickets to book now and his pick for the must-see show of the season.
Continue reading ➤ | Rules of the road Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal Reader Correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
On my third attempt, at the tender age of 31, I was declared fit to operate a car without the supervision of a responsible adult. My first two efforts were carnivals of incompetence and humiliation. Rolling out of the test centre on the wrong side of the road set the tone nicely.
I much prefer the sound of Ramesh Nayak’s experience: “I obtained my driving licence in India in the early 1970s. I was self-taught: I watched others drive, and took my parents’ car out late at night, accompanied by the cook, who hadn’t driven before. The educational requirements at the time were that you had to have passed your third year of formal schooling, and be aged 18 or over. There was no written exam and I appeared for the practical test when I felt ready to take it. The examiner, four other aspirants and I sat in the same vehicle and took turns at driving sedately for a few minutes across open ground. I was told beforehand that we each had to give the examiner a ‘bakshish’ (a monetary tip or present) in order to get a successful outcome. All of us passed.”
Edward Windham-Bellord, meanwhile, “took a driving test in Mauritania in April 1968. It consisted of going to the office of the minister of transport at midday and driving him home for lunch.”
All very civilised. I also enjoyed Nicola Mee’s account of a rather more exacting assessment: “I took my driving test in Larnaca, Cyprus, in 1979. It was August, the hottest time of the year. I had my own car, a Citroën Diane, which looked and sounded like a giant sewing machine on wheels.
“The rule was that if you were taking a driving test in your own car, the windows had to be closed. My Citroën had no air conditioning, plastic seats and a roll-top canvas roof that also had to be closed.
“After 20 minutes of weaving my way through the honking traffic, donkeys and carts, tourists, and sweating drivers gesticulating if you dared to brake, my driving instructor told me to pull over next to a roadside cafe.
“He fell out of the car, dripping in sweat, and went off to buy us two cups of watermelon juice, which he gulped down while mopping his sweating brow. He then informed me that I had passed my driving test. I could now wind down the windows and roll back the sun roof.” How was your test? You can send me your stories here, or head to our Your Say page on the Telegraph app.
| Plan your day with the telegraph | Set your alarm to catch up with our journalists on the Your Say page and listen to their analysis on our latest podcasts.
| | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
The solution to yesterday’s clue was AUTHORITY. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. | |
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