The Prime Minister is set to approve plans for a controversial Chinese “super embassy” in central London, Sky News understands.
A final decision on the planning application for the former Royal Mint site near the Tower of London is due on 10 December, after numerous previous delays.
The proposal is highly politically sensitive due to concerns about Chinese espionage activities in the UK, inflamed by the collapse of a recent court case involving two men accused of spying for China.
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The Times newspaper, which first reported the embassy story, says the plans have been given the green light by MI5 and MI6 and neither the Home Office nor the Foreign Office are expected to raise formal objections – provided appropriate security “mitigations” are put in place.
It follows news that Sir Keir Starmer is understood to be planning a trip to China in January, which would be the first visit by a UK prime minister to the country since Theresa May in 2018.
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Alex Burghart, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Mornings with Jones and Melbourne the Conservatives are firmly against the new embassy.
“I’m very concerned about security, very concerned about technical issues that have been raised by people who think that this might be used to look at information that is coming through the City of London,” he said. “We’ve just had a case of Chinese spies spying on members of parliament.”
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The 600,000 ft site is located above sensitive cables running between the City of London and Canary Wharf and has been subject to widespread protests.
Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall MP told Sky News she is unable to comment on the embassy plans but insisted all decisions would be taken through “the proper process”.
“We are clear eyed about our relationship with China,” she said. “Our national security will always come first. That is absolutely non-negotiable. But where we can safely work with China, whether that’s in the economy or areas like research, that’s what we’ll do because we want to get the best outcome for the British public.”
China bought Royal Mint Court for £255m in 2018 but their initial plans were rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022. They were resubmitted after Labour won last year’s election in July 2024.
In August that year, the application was “called in” by then Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, meaning central government took oversight of it from the local council.
Ms Rayner announced in August that she was delaying the decision over the part of the building plans being redacted. The decision is now technically up to Housing Secretary Steve Reed.
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China maintains the new embassy is being built to “promote understanding and friendship” with the UK and “develop mutually beneficial cooperation”.
In September, a Chinese embassy spokesperson told Sky News that claims the new embassy poses a potential security risk to the UK are “completely groundless and malicious slander, and we firmly oppose it”.
They added: “Anti-China forces are using security risks as an excuse to interfere with the British government’s consideration over this planning application. This is a despicable move that is unpopular and will not succeed.”
