Approval for the planned Chinese “mega embassy” in London is reportedly set to be further delayed as tensions rise over Labour’s approach to Beijing.
Officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are reportedly preparing to announce that the deadline on 21 October, will be pushed back, according to The Telegraph.
Controversy has surrounded China’s plans to build a large embassy near the Tower of London since 2018; no final decision has been made as it has been repeatedly delayed. China bought the 20,000 square metre complex in the Royal Mint Court at the time for £255 million.
The potential delay follows changes in the department, responsible for the planning case, made in the new Cabinet reshuffle, which saw Steve Reed take over from Angela Rayner, who resigned from her role.
Critics connected the potential delay with the collapse of the trial of alleged Chinese spies.
The prosecution of former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, and teacher Christopher Berry, was pulled after the Crown Prosecution Service tried “over many months” to get the evidence from the government it needed to show China was a threat to national security, but witness statements did not meet the threshold to prosecute.
Luke de Pulford, the co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told The Telegraph: “The reason for this delay stretches credulity, to put it kindly. Planning officials in Steve Reed’s [the Communities Secretary] department have already had six weeks longer than planned, and done a very diligent job.
“Everybody knows the final call on the mega-embassy will be determined by politics, not planning law. The real reason for this delay is that current scrutiny makes giving the anticipated green light inconvenient.”
Sir Keir has said that responsibility lay with the previous Conservative administration which was in power at the time of the alleged offences.
The prime minister maintained on Thursday that because the last Tory administration had not designated China as a threat to national security, his government could not provide evidence to that effect, which the director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said was required to meet the threshold for prosecution.
Planning for the embassy has faced a number of setbacks after the initial planning application was rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in December 2022 due to security concerns and opposition from local residents. Another planning application was submitted shortly after the general election and ministers called in the proposal from the council, triggering an investigation by the Planning Inspectorate and a final decision from the Department of Communities.
In August, Ms Rayner asked China to explain why parts of its plans for the new embassy were redacted.
The MHCLG declined to comment.
