Overview

• Innovate UK highlighted conflicts with the Integrated Review of Defence and Foreign Policy 2021, Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 and Electronic Communications (Security) Measures Regulations 2022.
• Published plans reveal extensive subsurface facilities bordering a secure BT telephone exchange serving the City of London, raising fears of wiretapping financial communications.
• The embassy proposal was initially blocked by Tower Hamlets council in 2022 following objections from British intelligence agencies and Scotland Yard, then resubmitted in January 2025 with reported lobbying by President Xi Jinping.
• Senior ministers are divided over stricter China oversight, with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy backing the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme while other officials oppose it.
• Angela Rayner’s forthcoming decision will test the government’s balance between diplomatic engagement with Beijing and mounting national security concerns.