East London News A Force for the community…
MAYOR LUTFUR RAHMAN has spoken out about the Government’s decision to allow the Chinese Government to build a new mega-embassy on the site of the former Royal Mint, near the Tower of London.
The planning application initially came to the Tower Hamlets Council Strategic Development Committee back in 2022. Officers had recommended that the Committee grant planning permission, but the Committee rejected the application in the face of sizeable local opposition. The Government cast aside the local decision and took control itself. It asked the Council to reconsider its decision, and the Committee confirmed its position in late 2024.
After dithering for months, and putting back its deadline time and time again, the Government has now granted planning permission – just before Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited China to try to secure a trade deal. One might almost say that they saw the scale of the task before them but took too long to complete the process.
On Wednesday, 28th January 2026, Mayor Lutfur Rahman made a short statement on the Labour Government’s decision to the Cabinet. Here is what he said.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman
“I want to address the news that the Government has approved the building of the Chinese embassy in our borough on the site of the old Royal Mint.
“The Council’s Strategic Development Committee had rejected the application after listening to experts and residents about the impact such a huge development can have on the neighbouring area.
“The concerns put forth by the Council, key stakeholders and residents were and remain valid. Concerns over policing, protests, and tourism in our borough are valid, and I am not satisfied that the concerns of residents have been adequately heard.
“The Government’s decision to ‘call in’ planning applications robs us of our democratic mandate. This is unacceptable.
“This is the same approach they took to the redevelopment of the Truman Brewery, undermining the carefully considered positions of officers and councillors, and making decisions that affect the lives of residents in a top-down fashion.”
Old habits die hard
It seems that as far as the Labour Party goes, history keeps repeating itself. In 2010, local Labour Party members selected Lutfur Rahman to be their candidate for the newly created post of Directly Elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets. The Labour Party cast the local members’ decision aside and imposed its own decision on the local Party. Lutfur Rahman decided that the only way he could respect the local members’ right to choose their own candidaet was to stand as an independent candidate. The Labour Party’s veto on the local choice backfired. Lutfur Rahman became the first Directly Elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets, and the official Labour candidate scraped a mere 11,254 votes from the borough’s electors – just over half the support which Lutfur Rahman received.
●Read more about it:
Biggs a “Liability”, “I voted Lutfur” say Labour campaigners
Will it be third time lucky for Lutfur?
