According to the plans presented by Chinese officials, the two large basement rooms of its new London ‘Super Embassy’ are simply innocent ‘Facilities Management Areas’.
They will apparently be accessed by ‘vertical circulation cores’ that enable embassy staff to move seamlessly – and unobtrusively – from one area of the mega-complex to another. Vehicles will also be able to gain access via a ‘security air-lock’ protected by a system of raised and retracted bollards. Though details of additional security systems have been withheld from the report ‘due to the nature of the subject’.
At least, that’s the official story. But others see something more sinister buried amid the underground warren of ‘plant rooms’, ‘substations’ and ‘water attenuation storage zones’.
‘I suspect that could be where they plan to place their most sensitive communications equipment,’ a security source told me. ‘It’s the obvious location. Remember when the Americans objected to Crossrail because it was going to run by one of their high-tech listening posts.’
Some worry the East Smithfield site could be used for even more malign purposes.
In 2022, a man protesting against China’s increasingly repressive administration of Hong Kong was dragged into the Chinese Consulate in Manchester, and violently assaulted. This has led shadow communities minister Kevin Hollinrake to write to the Prime Minister in protest against the construction of what he warns could be ‘a modern-day dungeon’ beneath the streets of London.
Protesters demonstrate against the planned embassy outside the east-London site last month
Some worry the East Smithfield site (pictured) could be used for even more malign purposes
According to Hollinrake: ‘This subterranean zone will undeniably be used for intelligence work by the Chinese Communist Party and its arm, the United Front Work Department. But there is also a chilling prospect that it could be used for the abduction, intimidation or torture of anti-Chinese dissidents.’
It could well be. As a former barrister specialising in human rights, Sir Keir is only too aware of the abuses that may potentially be perpetrated by the Chinese State. But his decision to turn a blind-eye to the monolithic Mandarin monstrosity set to be constructed opposite the Tower of London provides an insight into the way in which he intends to negotiate the new world order.
And in particular, his assessment that to protect the British people from the fallout from Donald Trump’s global trade war, he may have to be prepared to do a deal with the Devil.
In opposition, Labour’s leader hinted at an administration that would be guided the liberal principles that had shaped him. But the harsh realities of life as Prime Minister have delivered an awakening. One that sees a new P-word – ‘pragmatism’, rather than ‘principle’ – driving his decision making.
‘If you see what Keir’s been doing since he’s taken office, pragmatism has been at the heart of his approach,’ a No 10 insider told me. ‘His only focus has been what is in Britain’s interest.’
Even if at times that means aligning himself in a pretty shameless way with China’s interests.
The East London super-embassy was the subject of initial opposition from Tower Hamlets Council and the Metropolitan Police. But in January, Chancellor Rachel Reeves embarked on a high-profile visit to Beijing. And within a fortnight of her return the Met and the council had dropped their objections. Following the U-turn, the Tories submitted an FOI asking for details of any correspondence indicating No 10 had directly intervened in the local planning process on China’s behalf.
The response they received stated: ‘I can confirm the Cabinet Office holds information of relevance to your request.’ But it then added: ‘To disclose such information would reveal our internal priorities, as well as information that could, by inference, allow interested parties to determine what weight is placed by the UK Government on certain options.
‘Taking into account the above, I have concluded that the public interest lies in favour of withholding the information you have requested.’ Rather than hiding behind such Sir Humphyesque sophistry, Downing Street may just as well have come clean. ‘Yes, we know there may be some issues with letting China build what may be a torture chamber slap-bang in the middle of St Katherine’s Dock.
‘But they’ve just offered us a £600 million trade deal. And beggars can’t be choosers.’
Government insiders insist their approach to engaging with the Chinese isn’t quite that mercenary. As well as seeking to bolster economic contacts, ministers claim what they describe as a more ‘flexible’ policy – one that others may view as a policy of thinly disguised appeasement – is also the best way to advance Britain’s diplomatic objectives.
‘It may make people feel good, but the reality is you don’t get far with Beijing if you keep publicly shouting at them about [imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner] Jimmy Lai,’ one Cabinet minister told me.
Imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai
‘You have to be able to sit down, stare into their eyes and do some serious face-to-face negotiation.’ While he acknowledges this reality, Starmer privately hates some of the compromises he’s being forced to make. ‘His human rights work wasn’t just another job to Keir,’ one ally revealed.
‘It’s what came to define him politically and personally. There are times when people really have to push him to get him where he needs to be on some of this stuff. It’s why he dug in so hard defending Lord Hermer [the Attorney General] over Gerry Adams and his IRA representation last year.’
But ultimately the Prime Minister feels he has little choice. His view is he is leading a nation that has not been as internationally isolated since the debacle of Suez.
In the space of eight years, Britain has experienced a rupture in its two major strategic relationships – the EU and the United States. Vladimir Putin represents a clear, present and existential danger. Trump’s increasingly erratic interventions in the global markets are threatening what one of the President’s own leading business cheerleaders warned could be ‘an economic nuclear winter’.
And as yesterday’s emergency recall of Parliament to try to rescue British steel from its parent company Jingye shows, whether people like it or not, China already has its talons deeply embedded into the fabric of the UK.
As one minister reluctantly acknowledged: ‘We know China are a threat. But when you look at Putin and you look at Trump it’s becoming increasingly difficult to work out the optimum way to deal with them. They’re just so unpredictable. At least with [Chinese President] Xi, you’re dealing with a rational actor.’
Keir Starmer has come to the conclusion that in order to protect the British people, he may be forced to sell his soul to Satan. Or at least to Beijing. Let’s hope he manages to sell it dearly.
