Two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, have pleaded not guilty to spying for China.

Christopher Cash, 29, from Whitechapel, east London, and Christopher Berry, 32, of Witney in Oxfordshire, both denied the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act at the Old Bailey on Friday.

Cash worked as a parliamentary researcher and was closely linked to senior Tories including Conservative leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat.

The charge alleges that between December 28 2021 and February 3 2023 they “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State, obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”.

A further case management hearing will be scheduled for a date in January or February next year, and a provisional trial date has been set for October 6 at Woolwich Crown Court with a time estimate of five to seven weeks.