Former security minister Tom Tugendhat pulled no punches on GB News when it came to discussing Labour’s relationship with China.
The Conservative MP accused the party of pandering to Beijing “to make themselves look good” ahead of a crunch decision over China’s super-embassy in London.
On Wednesday, Defence Minister Luke Pollard announced the Government needed more time to reflect on the planning application for a new Chinese outpost in Tower Hamlets, given the “complexities of the national security implications”.
The update on the development has come as MI5 alerted parliamentarians, Whitehall officials and Westminster staffers they could become potential targets in an alleged Chinese spy operation.
Speaking to Andrew Pierce and Miriam Cates on Britain’s Newsroom, Mr Tugendhat said: “This is not the way to run a country.
“Particularly when we know that our enemies China, Russia and Iran are trying to do us really serious harm.”
Current Security Minister, Dan Jarvis, confirmed the Government was edging towards a decision on the controversial plans to establish the super-embassy.
The decision is due to be made by Mr Reed in a “quasi-judicial capacity”.
The Government is ‘too weak, too spineless and too gutless’, Tom Tugendhat told GB News
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GB NEWS
Refusing to pull a single punch, Mr Tugendhat scoffed at the claim, saying: “Rubbish! Stand up for Britain. Tell us what’s in our interests and actually defend it.
“Do you really think that it’s in our interest to have the Tower of London, that great symbol of English independence, going all the way back, in a way, to the Romans, but really to William the Conqueror, overshadowed by a Chinese embassy?
“What kind of a message do you think that sends to people who want to invest in the UK? Seriously? You think that’s in our interest? I don’t.
“If you really, really think it’s in our interest. Go out there. Be proud to say it. If you don’t, you’re a wimp. They’re all too weak, too spineless and too gutless.
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The controversial planning plea has triggered outrage from MPs, residents and officials alike
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“Frankly, they should make decisions if they don’t want to make a decision. Get out of the way and stop pretending you’re in charge. Hand it over to the judges and the bureaucrats.”
He further accused Labour of refusing to “offend” China as the Government is simply “desperate” to negotiate a trade deal with Beijing.
“You saw Rachel Reeves and her absolutely pathetic trip to Beijing. She came back with a promise of £600million of investment over five years. That’s £120million a year.
“I mean, seriously, it’s a joke!”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Mr Tugendhat claims, is “scraping and crawling” to “make herself look good” as she scrambles with bureaucrats in China to settle a trade deal.
“Well, she looks pathetic and she looks pathetic because she can’t add up. She doesn’t understand Britain’s values, and she’s not willing to defend our country. She’s in the wrong job,” Mr Tugendhat added.
Miriam pointed out such “warmth” towards China began in 2010 while David Cameron and George Osborne took the reins of international diplomacy, arguing it could be “too late to disentangle ourselves from China”.
Mr Tugendhat explained that “something big changed” in 2013 when Xi Jinping won power, hailing a new tone in China.
He said: “Now, personally, I’ve always been extremely cautious of China and the CCP because I’m always very, very wary of communists and dictatorships.
“The reality is that Beijing in 2010 was not Beijing in 2020. And the bets that were made then, you know, they were reasonable. The bets that this Government is making in 2025, after 15 years of lessons, are frankly extraordinary.
“They suggest either willful ignorance or complete stupidity, but they do not suggest a Government that is actually responding to the will and the interests of the British people.”
A decision on the super-embassy is now due on December 10.
On claims of espionage, China’s embassy in the UK claimed Britain was engaging in “pure fabrication and slander”.
A spokesman said: “We urge the UK side to immediately stop this self-staged charade of false accusations and self-aggrandisement, and stop going further down the wrong path of undermining China-UK relations.”