Downing Street has said it would have been "absurd" for the Prime Minister to step in after being told the China spy case was going to collapse, stressing it was a "criminal matter" for the Crown Prosecution Service to handle independently.In a fresh warning about China, the head of MI5 has meanwhile warned "Chinese state actors" present a national security threat to the UK "every day", with the security services having carried out an operation against a threat from Beijing within the last week.

Downing Street has said it would have been "absurd" for the Prime Minister to step in after being told the China spy case was going to collapse, stressing it was a "criminal matter" for the Crown Prosecution Service to handle independently.In a fresh warning about China, the head of MI5 has meanwhile warned "Chinese state actors" present a national security threat to the UK "every day", with the security services having carried out an operation against a threat from Beijing within the last week.