British control of nineteenth-century cable routes

Is there documentary proof that the British government deliberately routed global communications cables through its territory for espionage in the nineteenth century?

The explanation offered is that British companies found British-controlled landing points easiest to use. The answer does not identify documentary proof that the government ordered those routes for espionage.

Commercial convenience offers an explanation for routing cables through British-controlled territory. British companies handled the major cable work and found it easier to obtain agreements within British possessions. That could produce a British-centered network without a special government instruction directing routes for espionage. No documentary proof of such an instruction is identified in the exchange.