Plans for a new Chinese super embassy in London should be rejected, a former MI6 boss has told GB News.
Sir Richard Dearlove joined Eamonn Holmes and Ellie Costello on GBN Breakfast to discuss whether Britain should allow China to pursue such a significant diplomatic endeavour given new accusations of spying.
On Wednesday, defence minister Luke Pollard announced that the Government needed more time to reflect on the planning application for a new Chinese outpost in Tower Hamlets, London, given the “complexities of the national security implications”.
The update on the development has come as MI5 alerted parliamentarians, Whitehall officials, Westminster staffers and with a multitude of others in SW1 that they could become potential targets in a mammoth Chinese spy operation.
Speaking to the People’s Channel this morning, Sir Richard told GB News that the plans should be blocked altogether, rather than booted into the long grass once more.
He warned that the symbolism behind placing the Chinese embassy in a building “so prominent on the edge of the city, the largest embassy they’ll have in Europe, one of the largest in the world” would not send the “right” message on Britain’s relationship with Beijing.
In just a matter of weeks, Communities Secretary Steve Reed will have to make a decision on the embassy, a building which could make it easier for Chinese spies to target underground cables.
Sir Richard added: “I think there is a real problem, and the Government is going to be in an awfully difficult position if on December 10 they turn around and say ‘permission is granted for the embassy’.”
A decision on the controversial planning plea is due in a matter of weeks
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PA/GB NEWS
Discussing suggestions China has ramped up spying efforts in the UK, he added: “The Chinese in particular are very active in the intelligence dimension.
“And this latest warning is an example of their methodology, using the internet to inveigle people who might be in need of money, let’s say, into a relationship where they’re paid a huge sum of money for doing some banal consultancy, and then the Chinese escalate the relationship.
“People like me have been shouting about this threat from the sidelines for a very, very long time, and at long last, the country is waking up to it very late in the day. And the problem is very real.”
He added: “I mean, the Chinese have become very aggressive in this dimension.
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Mr Pollard spoke to Eamonn Homes and Ellie Costello on Wednesday morning
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GB NEWS“But I’m afraid we have a problem. Listening to the minister, he talks a great talk, he’s very fluent about the defence issue.
“But the truth about the Labour Government is, unless they cut the welfare bill and start spending immediately on defence, they’re not going to get this done quickly enough.”
The former security official further urged that national security should be a “top priority”, just as the NHS is treated, he claimed.
“At the moment, they’re trying to kid us that they’re spending whatever it is 2.8 per cent of GDP on defence,” he scoffed.
“Those figures are fixed. It’s not like that. They’re not doing it fast enough.
“There’s a lack of urgency, and they’ve got themselves into a dreadful problem with too much technology from China, which is Chinese control in our critical infrastructure.”
This morning, Mr Pollard, while being grilled by GB News’ Ellie Costello, told GB News: “We’re a nation of laws, and the planning process is governed by a legal framework.
“But because of the national security concerns that have been raised by the Foreign Office and Home Office, the Government said that we all need more time to consider those.
“But we’ve also said that a decision on this quasi-judicial planning process will be taken by December 10.”
The Labour defence minister added: “But I think it’s worth your viewers understanding that our intelligence services are used to dealing with foreign embassies in our capital.
“We have a Chinese embassy in our capital, currently a Russian embassy, an Iranian embassy. So we’re used to dealing with those.”