Richard Holmes

Labour MP Sarah Champion said: “Very clear arguments have been made why the embassy would be a security and psychological threat to the UK. I’m not reassured they have been fully considered.”

Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s the site hosted major institutions, including Barclays, Deloitte, and BlackRock.

An assessment by UK intelligence agencies warned that the site’s proximity to cabling feeding the City’s financial hub was a national security risk.

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel said the claims were “extremely concerning” as she accused the Government of “showing total contempt for our national security”.

“Approving a spy hub in return for a cheap refurb would be simply ludicrous,” she said.

The offer was only on condition of the UK approving China’s plans at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London.

It came after the Chinese had been cutting off electricity, and turning off the heating at Britain’s own diplomatic post in Beijing.

The astonishing claim about why Chinese Embassy 'spy base' is being approved A decision on the Chinese super embassy is expected next month, which would give Beijing one of the largest diplomatic bases in the world

NEW: The UK signed off China’s new London embassy after Chinese officials offered a ‘cut-price’ rebuild of Britain’s crumbling embassy in Beijing.

The Foreign Office “pressured” No 10 into the decision despite security risks, according to sources.

inews.co.uk/news/astonis...

EXCLUSIVE: DURHAM FILES PROVE LABOUR USES COUNTY AS MIGRANT DUMPING GROUND WHILE HIDING TRUTH IN PARLIAMENT The “fair share” is a fantasy. Wealthy Southern councils sit in their leafy enclaves while County Durham is packed. Now whistleblower files reveal the truth Labour wanted buried!

I've seen claims that Darren Grimes used a faked photograph in this blogpost, so I've decided to take a closer look, see if an elected official would be low enough to use a fake image to promote anti-immigrant sentiment (the answer will shock you!)

www.darrengrimes.com/p/exclusive-...

China's 'LinkedIn' spies targeted senior Home Office, NATO and Foreign Office officials MI5 issued an espionage alert warning that Chinese intelligence services were trying to 'interfere' and 'influence' Parliament

BREAKING: Two people accused of targeting MPs on LinkedIn for Chinese intelligence connected with senior officials at the Home Office and Foreign Office, high-ranking NATO staff, and individuals at the UK’s embassy in Beijing.
inews.co.uk/news/chinas-...

Qiu and Shen used the professional social networking site to obtain “non-public and insider insights”, MI5 said, also targeting economists, think tank staff and civil servants due to their access to politicians.

In one approach from Shen to an official at the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the fake Chinese recruiter claimed to be offering a consultant role with a “global famous research center” and wanted to chat further about the opportunity.

Other connections to the pair include leading voices from UK think tanks as well as key policy makers among UK government departments on China, leading to serious concern among intelligence officials.

China's 'LinkedIn' spies targeted senior Home Office, NATO and Foreign Office officials MI5 issued an espionage alert warning that Chinese intelligence services were trying to 'interfere' and 'influence' Parliament

BREAKING: Two people accused of targeting MPs on LinkedIn for Chinese intelligence connected with senior officials at the Home Office and Foreign Office, high-ranking NATO staff, and individuals at the UK’s embassy in Beijing.
inews.co.uk/news/chinas-...

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has circulated guidance from MI5 warning MPs they face a significant risk of espionage from the Chinese state.

Sir Lindsay said Chinese state actors were "relentless" in trying to "interfere" and "influence" Parliament - not an enemy though.

Today, the UK announced new cyber laws to strengthen defences for essential public services like healthcare, transport and energy.

The annual bill from hacks is almost £15 billion. The new laws hope to lower that figure.

But will they make any difference?

NEW: Russia is believed to be behind recent drone incursions into Belgium from Kremlin-linked cargo ships in the North Sea.

Drones overflying military bases have become a regular feature of Putin’s aggression in the West - the shadow fleet is helping.

inews.co.uk/news/inside-...

NEW: Russia is believed to be behind recent drone incursions into Belgium from Kremlin-linked cargo ships in the North Sea.

Drones overflying military bases have become a regular feature of Putin’s aggression in the West - the shadow fleet is helping.

inews.co.uk/news/inside-...

Broken bones, heart attacks and chemical burns - the human cost of Amazon orders 2,500 serious injury incidents have been recorded in UK Amazon warehouses in the last ten years - roughly one injury every day and a half

Many months in the reporting - my investigation into Amazon warehouses is finally live today. A huge thank you to the workers and others who spoke to me, on and off the record. inews.co.uk/news/human-c...

Inside Russia's tactics to 'flood' Europe with migrants as a weapon of war Intelligence agencies suspect hostile states are providing equipment and infrastructure to fuel illicit smuggling networks - while disinformation campaigns direct migration flows

NEW: Western intelligence agencies suspect hostile states are providing equipment and infrastructure to fuel illicit smuggling networks.

Inside Russia's tactics to 'flood' Europe with migrants as a weapon of war: inews.co.uk/news/inside-...

China spy scandal 'kills' UK intelligence operations in Beijing MPs pile pressure on the Director of Public Prosecutions over the spy trial collapse

LATEST: Making details of the China spying case public has effectively “killed” some active operations.

“We’ve done our job and caught them red-handed, and it’s just been thrown under the bus,” a UK intelligence source said.
inews.co.uk/news/politic...

The committee found that the UK has “extremely large expenditure commitments” on defence, “without clear plans for how government will pay for them” in findings from its annual report.

BREAK: The Government is currently £9bn short of their own defence spending target without a “clear plan” for how to reach it, the Public Accounts Committee has warned.

Government faces inquiry over two alleged Chinese spies in Westminster Since the collapse of the trial of two British men accused of spying for China there have been calls for an inquiry into the Government’s handling of the case

EXCLUSIVE: The Government is set to face a parliamentary inquiry over its handling of the trial of two British men accused of spying for China.

The Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Select Committees are due to meet to discuss how best to probe the case.

inews.co.uk/news/governm...

Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran target MoD staff with fake LinkedIn job ads Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran are using sophisticated AI-generated job adverts in a brazen attempt to breach devices belonging to UK and allied military officials

🚨NEW: Cyber criminals from Russia & Iran are posting fake job ads to lure MOD & NATO personnel, contractors, and suppliers — using offers to carry out identity theft, credential harvesting, and malware injection.

My latest: inews.co.uk/news/cyber-c...

Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran target MoD staff with fake LinkedIn job ads Cyber criminals from Russia and Iran are using sophisticated AI-generated job adverts in a brazen attempt to breach devices belonging to UK and allied military officials

🚨NEW: Cyber criminals from Russia & Iran are posting fake job ads to lure MOD & NATO personnel, contractors, and suppliers — using offers to carry out identity theft, credential harvesting, and malware injection.

My latest: inews.co.uk/news/cyber-c...

Russia 'perfecting' China's sabotage tactics for war against West European countries are ill-prepared for threat of co-ordinated sabotage attacks by Russia and China, a classified EU intelligence report has warned

🚨NEW: Russia and China are working together to perfect sabotage attacks on Europe and Taiwan, a classified EU intel report has warned.

The report, written in spring, underscores concerns that Beijing and Moscow are working in parallel against the West.
inews.co.uk/news/russia-...

MI5 spies are quitting for better pay and work-life balance The UK's domestic security agency is losing staff in search of better career progression, sources have said

: Budget cuts and promotion freezes are seeing staff at UK intelligence agencies leave for the private sector.

With the promise of better pay, career progression and better work-life balance, the govt faces a drain of talent from security services.

inews.co.uk/news/mi5-spi...

One former MoD official said there was “a lot of argument internally” over who “should and shouldn’t be coming back” to the UK.

A military intel source said vetting was little more than “sending the list out to blokes in-country [Afghanistan] and asking what they think”.

The most recent data fiasco sparked a scramble to resettle Afghan nationals.

Govt departments and UK intelligence agencies had to work together to decide who to bring to the UK. But the classified nature of the information they were dealing with made it hard to vet individuals.

Also in the report: Insiders said Britain’s rushed effort to resettle Afghan nationals in the wake of the leak descended into chaos amid poor planning, internal disputes and questionable vetting over who should be brought into the country.

The source, who helped manage the fallout from the leak while at the MoD, warned the incident represented the “eroding” importance placed on data protection and operational security at the department.

A former senior military source said the decision, along with a reduced understanding of IT, paved the way for a defence official to mistakenly leak a list containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans, putting lives at risk.