𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Sir Keir Starmer faces furious backlash after giving the green light to a new Chinese mega-embassy in the heart of London. The Government approved the plans for the vast new building at Royal Mint Court, a site near the Tower of London, despite warnings from critics that it will be used as a base for spying and security crackdowns.

Tory Shadow Local Government Secretary Sir James Cleverly branded the move “a disgraceful act of cowardice from a Labour Government and Prime Minister utterly devoid of backbone”. He said: “The first duty of any Government is to keep the country safe. But Keir Starmer has relegated that most critical priority beneath his desperate desire for Beijing’s approval.

“Labour’s latest sell-out confirms they cannot be trusted to stand up for Britain on the international stage.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said Sir Keir Starmer had “sold off our national security to the Chinese Communist Party with his shameful super embassy surrender”.

She added: “Throughout his dismal premiership to date, the PM has kowtowed to Beijing at every opportunity, including over Chagos. And now, once again, he is giving Xi Jinping what he wants – a colossal spy hub in the heart of our capital.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp added that Labour doesn’t have “the backbone to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party”.

He said: “The Chinese state is a hostile intelligence power. Approving this site sends the signal that Labour are willing to trade our national security for diplomatic convenience.

“The Labour Government should grow a backbone and reverse this decision for the sake of our national interest.”

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which has been involved in a campaign to halt the new Chinese embassy, said the planning approval was the “wrong decision for the UK”.

Luke de Pulford, a co-founder of the group, said: “This is the wrong decision for the UK, sending all the wrong signals. Wrong for dissidents, wrong for UK national security.

“Our three Cs China policy is less compete, challenge and cooperate, more cover-up, cave in, and cash out.”

A Labour peer and top barrister branded the approval as a “dangerous” concession.

Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, co-chairperson of the cross-party Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “Whilst British parliamentarians, like myself, remain unjustly sanctioned and British Citizen Jimmy Lai remains imprisoned on political charges, the UK must take a principled stand.

“We cannot reinforce the dangerous notion that Britain will continue to make concessions – such as granting a mega-embassy – without reciprocity or regard for the rule of law.”

The decision removes a diplomatic hurdle in the relationship with Xi Jinping’s government, clearing the way for the Prime Minister to make a widely expected visit to China.

Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said the decision is “now final unless it is successfully challenged in court”.