Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made a human rights risk assessment on the (a) diplomatic privileges and (b) surveillance capabilities at the proposed Chinese Embassy site in Royal Mint Court.

National security is the first duty of Government. It has been our core priority throughout this process. We continually assess potential threats in the UK, and take protection of individuals' rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously. As part of this, the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary submitted a letter to the Planning Inspector to make clear that for China to be permitted to build the new embassy, the UK government will need to see the implementation of suitable national security mitigations. A final decision on this case will be made in due course by Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government. It would not be appropriate to comment on any specific issues.