Chris Philp has blasted Sir Keir Starmer for “running off overseas” to dodge questions over the collapse of the China spy trial.

The comments come as two men accused of spying for China has their charges dropped in September.

The director of public prosecutions said the case collapsed because evidence could not be obtained from the Government referring to China as a national security threat.

Speaking about this on GB News, Shadow Home Secretary Mr Philp said: "He should be behind me in Parliament answering the very serious questions that he has to answer.

Chris Philp claimed Sir Keir Starmer is 'running off overseas' to dodge questions

"He needs to explain why it was his Government that chose to withhold evidence that they could have handed over to the Crown Prosecution Service.

“But instead, Keir Starmer's Government chose to withhold that evidence, causing the China spy trial to collapse, and the reason for that is that the Labour government are more interested in kowtowing to the Chinese for economic reasons, to help bail them out of their financial mess that Labour has created.

“They're more interested in that than they are in protecting our national security.”

He added: “The Government story keeps changing every time something they say is proven to be untrue. Keir Starmer now needs to tell us who exactly decided to withhold this evidence.

“Many people say Jonathan Powell was intimately involved in that decision. Was Keir Starmer himself aware of all of this going on? We need answers to those questions. The Labour government's story keeps changing.

“First of all, back in September, one of their ministers claimed to me in Parliament that the Labour government had no idea what was going on, nothing to do with them. It was all down to the CPS.

“The Crown Prosecution Service were then so angry, they wrote three public letters exposing that as untrue, and that's why we need Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, in Parliament today, answering these questions.

“What did he know and when? What exactly did Jonathan Powell have to do with this?

"Who took the decision in Government to withhold this evidence?

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“All of these questions are completely unanswered at the moment. No wonder Keir Starmer has decided to go and hide in Egypt today.”

On Sunday, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said ministers were “disappointed” the deal had not gone ahead.

Sir Keir Starmer has previously said his ministers could only rely on the former Government’s assessment of China, while his administration has insisted it is “frustrated” by the trial’s collapse.