Chinese Embassy

Lord Spellar Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I understand noble Lords’ frustration about our not yet being able to answer some of the questions about which material considerations have been taken into account, but they will be when we determine the application. This is a decision for planning Ministers, independent of the rest of government. Planning Ministers must take decisions following the quasi-judicial process that is completely right and correct for those decisions and based on evidence and planning rules. On transnational repression, we will not tolerate attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass or harm their critics overseas, especially in the United Kingdom.

[Lord Spellar (Lab)]

My Lords, can we now come to some degree of reality? Embassies are for relations between states; they do not imply approval of states. Furthermore, spying activities have emanated from embassies right the way back to ambassadors being expelled from this country for being part of plots to assassinate monarchs, let alone the regular expulsion of Russian spies from the Russian embassy. Can we be very clear about the size of the embassy? Large countries tend to have large embassies, and China is a very large country. That is just a fact. Can we deal with this practically rather than with overexaggeration?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My noble friend raises the size of the embassy. That will be taken into account by the decision-making Minister as a material planning consideration.

In relation to China’s presence in the UK, it already has seven diplomatic buildings in this country. It is not new for it to have a presence here; this is about a particular planning application for a new embassy. Decisions will be taken according to the material planning considerations. I am sorry; I know it sounds a bit like Groundhog Day, but I am afraid that is what you will get from me, whichever way the question is framed.