Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the request by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to call in the planning application for the new Chinese Embassy on national security.

The planning application has been called in by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and she will make this quasi-judicial decision independent from the rest of Government.

As set out in a joint letter by the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary to the Planning Inspector on 14 January, the Home Office has considered the breadth of national security issues in relation to the planning application.

It would not be appropriate to comment in further detail on specific matters relating to national security.