PM under fire over Labour 'calling in' China 'super embassy' scheme

Sir Keir Starmer is under fire after revealing ministers took over decision-making for China's new 'super embassy' in London after Xi Jinping raised it with him.

The PM told the Chinese President, as they met at the G20 summit in Brazil today, how Labour recently 'called in' China's application for a huge diplomatic HQ.

'You raised the Chinese embassy building in London when we spoke on the telephone,' Sir Keir told Mr Xi during their meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

'And we have since taken action by calling in that application. Now we have to follow the legal process and timeline.'

In response to Sir Keir's words to Mr Xi, which were recorded as broadcasters were being ushered out of the room in Rio, top Tory MP Robert Jenrick branded the PM 'weak'.

The shadow justice secretary said: 'Starmer openly admits Labour intervened in the application to build the new Chinese embassy (massive spy hub) after Xi Jinping pressured him. Weak. Weak. Weak.'

Luke de Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said the PM was 'nakedly admitting that the Government called in the Chinese mega embassy application under pressure from Xi Jinping'.

China bought the former home of the Royal Mint, near the Tower of London, for £255million in 2018.

It purchased the historic site with the aim of moving its embassy eastwards across London from its current Marylebone location.

But China's plans for a 'super embassy' were left in disarray after its proposed redevelopment of Royal Mint Court was rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022.

It had been thought Beijing had subsequently scrapped the plans but - following Labour's general election victory in July - it was revealed how it resubmitted a planning application in August without making any major changes to the scheme.

In October, the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government confirmed Deputy PM Angela Rayner, who heads the department, had 'called in' the scheme.

A Government spokesman said the application 'raised planning issues of more than local importance'.

An inspector is due to hold a public inquiry into the project before ministers make a final decision.

Locals in Tower Hamlets had campaigned against China's embassy plans due to the historic nature of the former Royal Mint site.

They expressed fears the site would be turned into 'a fortress' - with increased surveillance by cameras leading to a loss of privacy for those living nearby - and suggested it could become a terror target.

Campaigners and local politicians also protested against the scheme due to China's repression of the Muslim Uighur people in Xinjiang.

It was recently reported that China is blocking requests to rebuild the British embassy in Beijing while the fate of the Royal Mint Court site is being decided.

A statement on the Chinese's embassy website in August said: 'Six years ago, the Chinese government purchased the Royal Mint Court, London, for the use as the new Chinese embassy premises.

'The UK Government had given its consent to this. Now we are in the process of applying for planning permission.

'Host countries have the international obligation to support and facilitate the building of the premises of diplomatic missions.

'Both China and the UK have the need to build a new embassy in each other's capital, and the two sides should provide facilitation to each other.'

In their first official telephone call on 23 August, Sir Keir told the Chinese President he hopes they can have 'open, frank and honest' talks about areas of disagreement.

The call was the first between the Chinese premier and a British PM since Mr Xi spoke to Boris Johnson in March 2022.

A Downing Street account of the phone call made no specific mention of China's embassy plans.