From 2h agoKey events47m agoRecord 755 people detected crossing Channel in small boats on Thursday, Home Office says1h agoJunior doctors in England launch fifth round of industrial action1h agoAngus MacNeil expelled from SNP after row with party’s chief whip2h agoTreasury minister rejects calls for UK to leave ECHRFilters BETAKey events (4)John Glen (3)22m ago06.25 EDTPatrick Wintour
China has temporarily shelved plans to build a new embassy in London, angrily accusing the British government of not doing enough to force through planning permission for the project.
China had been given until Thursday to file an appeal to Tower Hamlets council in east London after the proposals for the embassy were rejected.
Beijing bought the Royal Mint Court site for its new embassy in 2018 for £255m, with the plan to move from its long-term but relatively cramped site in Portland Place, near Regent’s Park.
Chinese officials appear to have decided that rather than appeal through the local Tower Hamlets planning process, where they have relatively little chance of success, they want central government to intervene and give assurances that it will back a resubmitted application.
The UK Foreign Office is aware that if it does not intervene, its already strained relations with Beijing will be damaged further.
The Chinese foreign ministry in a statement urged the British government to meet its “international obligation” to help it build a new embassy, and said China wanted to find a solution “on the basis of reciprocity and mutual benefit”.
China wants to build a 65,000-sq metre (700,000-sq ft) embassy, which would be its biggest mission in Europe and almost twice the size of its embassy in Washington. A decision to build such a large embassy would be proof that China regarded relations with the UK as critical since Brexit.
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China’s new London embassy on hold pending Westminster interventionRead more47m ago06.00 EDTRecord 755 people detected crossing Channel in small boats on Thursday, Home Office says
On Thursday 755 people were detected crossing the Channel in small boats, the highest number on a single day so far this year, the Home Office said.
The previous high for this year was 686 people on 7 July.
The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2023 now stands at a provisional total of 15,826. Total arrivals last year were 45,755.
The latest figures mean there have been 100,715 arrivals detected since January 2018, when data was first reported.
There were 14 boats detected crossing the Channel on Thursday, which suggests an average of about 54 people per boat.
Updated at 06.38 EDT1h ago05.46 EDTJunior doctors in England launch fifth round of industrial actionAndrew Gregory
Junior doctors in England have launched a fifth round of industrial action, with thousands going on strike just days after starting their first NHS jobs.
The latest strikes from British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors began at 7am on Friday and will end at…
2023-08-11 05:38:45
Original from www.theguardian.com
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