BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

Hello, I'm Alicia McCarthy. Thanks for downloading the yesterday in Parliament podcast.

On Thursday the 16th of October, there was still real anger in the Commons over the collapsed China spying case.

New ministers must hope for a gentle first outing at the Commons dispatch box, perhaps a late-night

debate in a somnolent chamber, or fielding a gentle inquiry from a friendly backbencher.

But there was no such luck for Chris Ward, promoted to the Cabinet Office in Keir Stama's

post-Angela Rana reshuffle.

Instead, he found himself answering questions on the evidence released late on Wednesday night

about the collapsed China spy trial.

Under this government, no minister or special adviser played any role in the provision of evidence.

The Prime Minister cannot say, if that is the case under the previous government,

but I once again invite the party opposite to clarify that.

Having... If you missed that, that was a Conservative Tom Tuganhart,

accusing Chris Ward of being a petty little man,

which earned him a ticking off from the speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Ms Tugendah, I expect better from you, you'll be wanting to catch my eye. This is not the best way to do that.

Please, can we just show a little bit more respect, which I'd normally get from me.

Passions were running high because last month the case against two men accused of passing secrets to China was dropped. Both had denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors said they'd abandoned the case because they didn't have the evidence to prove China was a threat.

And so late on Wednesday night, the government released three witness statements submitted by the Deputy National Security Advisor,

one prepared under the Conservatives and two others since Labour came to power. Chris Ward reckoned

all three set out the very serious threat that China posed. It's clear from this evidence,

...