Keir Starmer accused of placing nationwide safety in danger after being ‘pressured by Beijing’ to develop Chinese ‘tremendous embassy’
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of putting national security at risk by succumbing to pressure from Beijing to override warnings from MI5 and the police about a proposed new Chinese ‘super embassy’ in the UK.
Plans for the development of the Royal Mint buildings by the Tower of London were rejected by the last Tory Government following objections from Scotland Yard and British intelligence agencies, which included claims that sensitive data cables which run nearby could be vulnerable to attack by Chinese spies.
While online hacking can be carried out from any location, tapping of fibre-cables relies physical access.
Diplomats have also said that Donald Trump’s administration would have reservations about sharing intelligence with the UK if the embassy is allowed to open.
But the application was revived in the run up to a visit to China earlier this year by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, with President Xi Jinping understood to have lobbied for it personally.
Now Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory Planning spokesman, has written to the Prime Minister arguing that there are ‘serious questions’ to be answered about ‘planning propriety, national security and potential foreign interference’.
Mapping data shows that the proposed site for the embassy lies directly between financial hubs in the City and Canary Wharf and close to three major data centres.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have written to England’s planning inspectorate to say that the Metropolitan Police have ‘withdrawn their objection’ to the application.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, at the Sheraton Hotel, as he attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

View of the site of the former Royal Mint in London on December 6, 2024, a site favoured by the Chinese authorities as a home for it’s new ‘super embassy’

The decision on the new Chinese embassy is now in the hands of the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, who as Housing Secretary is awaiting a report from the Planning Inspectorate
The decision is now in the hands of the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, who as Housing Secretary is awaiting a report from the Planning Inspectorate.
Mr Holinrake asks Sir Keir whether pressure was exerted on Scotland Yard to alter their stance as part of a deal with China, saying: ‘Reports from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China suggest that the Chinese Communist Party may have influenced representations in support of the planning application through coercion or fabricated submissions.
This cannot be overlooked, given the broader implications for UK sovereignty and integrity in decision-making.’
He adds: ‘This issue is not only a test of planning propriety but also a matter of national security and public trust in your government’s ability to act in the UK’s best interests.’
China dismisses claims that the embassy could be an espionage hub as ‘totally groundless and unreliable’, with an embassy spokesperson saying: ‘Anti-China elements are always keen on fabricating facts, slandering and attacking China’.