Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, said: “No surprises here – Labour’s rush to appease Xi Jinping’s demands for a new embassy demonstrated a complacency when it came to keeping our people safe. Having deluded themselves for so long, they’ve recognised we were right to be vigilant.”
Responding to security concerns earlier this week, the Chinese embassy told the BBC it was “committed to promoting understanding and the friendship between the Chinese and British peoples and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Building the new embassy would help us better perform such responsibilities”.
China bought the old Royal Mint Court for £255m in 2018. At 20,000 square metres, the complex will be the biggest embassy in Europe if it goes ahead.
The plan involves a cultural centre and housing for 200 staff, but in the basement, behind security doors, there are also rooms with no identified use on the plans.
Beijing’s application for the embassy had previously been rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 over safety and security concerns.
It resubmitted an identical application in August 2024, one month after Labour came to power.
On 23 August, Sir Keir Starmer phoned Chinese President Xi Jinping for their first talks. Sir Keir confirmed afterwards that Xi had raised the embassy issue.
Rayner has since exercised her power to take the matter out of the council’s hands amid attempts by the government to engage with China after a cooling of relations during the final years of Conservative Party rule.
Senior ministers have signalled they are in favour if minor adjustments are made to the plan.