Luke de Pulford, the co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “The reason for this delay stretches credulity, to put it kindly. Planning officials in Steve Reed’s [the Communities Secretary] department have already had six weeks longer than planned, and done a very diligent job.
“Everybody knows the final call on the mega-embassy will be determined by politics, not planning law. The real reason for this delay is that current scrutiny makes giving the anticipated green light inconvenient…