The UK government and prosecutors have been heavily criticised over the collapse of a China spying case in an official report that described some of their actions as “shambolic”.
The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, which has been reviewing the collapse of the case against two British men accused of spying on MPs for China, said its investigation had found that “systemic failures” contributed to the failure in bringing a prosecution.
The report found the process between the government and the Crown Prosecution Service was “beset by confusion and misaligned expectations”. It added: “Some aspects are best described as shambolic.”
The report said, however, that it “did not find evidence” of “a co-ordinated high-level effort to collapse the prosecution, nor of deliberate efforts to obstruct it.” This, in effect, cleared the government of the most serious charge laid by critics.
The case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry collapsed in September after the government was unwilling or unable to define China as an “enemy” or “national security threat” in evidence for the CPS. Both men have always denied any wrongdoing.
The case was brought under the Official Secrets Act of 1911, which has since been superseded by the National Security Act due to inherent flaws in the old legislation, such as the need to define a country as an enemy that would enable a prosecution.
The case’s collapse led to allegations that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government had undermined the prosecution as it tried to build trade ties with Beijing, something Downing Street has always denied.
...
[The chair of the joint committee Matt] Western said the government “must show the public that it is confident in standing up to adversaries when required: failing to do so will corrode public trust in our institutions”.
The report said the “episode reflects poorly on the otherwise commendable efforts across public servants to keep this country safe.”
I agree with what you've said including on the ban of MP's second jobs, but are there countries in Europe that ban such jobs? It may not be as easy as in the UK, but it's not completely banned anywhere afaik. Am I mistaken?
France had a parliament member called Francois Fillon that opened a consulting firm.
Most of his consulting clients were rich businessmen.
An investigation found he was likely selling his votes and parliamentary infuence:
collapsed inline media
https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2020/02/19/le-tres-cher-carnet-d-adresses-de-francois-fillon_6030024_823448.html
In 2017, Macron passed a political transparency law ("* Loi organique et loi ordinaire du 15 septembre 2017 pour la confiance dans la vie politique*).
It's now much harder for members of French Parliament to have second jobs. They can no longer create a consulting firm while in office. They can no longer sit on corporate boards. They also can't be lawyers or consultants for a bank, any publically traded company, any construction company, any real estate company, or any foreign-owned company. People who break these rules face jail :
https://www.vie-publique.fr/loi/20774-loi-confiance-dans-la-vie-politique-moralisation-de-la-vie-publique
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000035586121
(This law is actually the best law Macron passed)
British ethics rules are far more lax.
I mean, you have military companies sponsoring members of Parliament :
https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/controversial-mps-group-shuts-down-israel-appg-loopholes
But are there European countries banning such second jobs?