Edinburgh man charged with spying for China says he was a 'convenient fall guy'
Chris Cash has given his first interview after being arrested and charged with espionage.
A Scottish man who was charged with spying for China has said he was a “convenient fall guy”.
Chris Cash, a former parliamentary researcher from Edinburgh, said he was arrested and charged because UK police and security services wanted to put espionage threats by foreign states “on the map”.
The espionage charges were dropped last year with prosecutors blaming UK government officials for not classifying China as an “enemy” of the state. This prompted accusations of UK political interference to placate the Chinese government.
Mr Cash has now given an interview to the BBC and handed over 6,000 messages between him and his friend Chris Berry in China.
In the interview he admits he was “unprofessional and naïve” to send “gossiping” messages to his friend, but maintains he would “never do anything” to harm UK national security.
He said: “I heard footsteps on the stairs and then four counterterrorism officers were in my bedroom saying I was under arrest for breaching the Official Secrets Act.
“I became the convenient fall guy for everyone.”
Mr Cash added: “I was immature in sharing it with Chris.”
When asked if it was "reckless" rather than naivety, Mr Cash said: “No - as I said, I think I was unprofessional and naïve, but I was working in an environment where this information was being shared freely.”
In the messages the two men described a “secret” meeting between Mr Berry and a high-ranking Chinese official who wanted to have “a more detailed cooperation”.
In voice notes, Mr Berry describes how the official was interested in him because of reports he had written about the UK’s foreign policy approach to China.
After describing the details of the meeting, including discussing the Conservative leadership contest eventually won by Liz Truss, Mr Cash replied saying “you, my friend, have just been elite captured” and “you’re in spy territory now”.
Mr Cash said “I didn’t think anything of the meeting, really” and said his comment was a “tongue-in-cheek joke” because his friend was a “staunch critic of the Chinese Communist Party”.
He said: “I didn’t believe he was knowingly spying on the UK through me.
“I trusted my friend … I wish I had seen the danger earlier, spotted it and cut off all contact.”
In the messages Mr Berry also told Mr Cash that he had it “on pretty good authority” that China was considering dropping sanctions against Tom Tugendhat, who was a member of the China Research Group Mr Cash worked at. Mr Berry said this would happen if the West “continued to show signals they are willing to work together”.
Mr Tugendhat was appointed as UK security minister by former prime minister Liz Truss and Beijing lifted sanctions against him at the beginning of this year.
Mr Cash said: “I’ve been applying for basic admin jobs and having trouble recently. I’m angry and upset with how everything played out, and I do feel let down.”
He added: “It was a gruelling ordeal, but I’m fundamentally a positive person … I’m positive about what the future holds.”
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