National security comes first, minister says amid reports Chinese embassy in London nearing approval – UK politics live

8.45am GMT Starmer says he will 'robustly' protect UK's national insterests amid China trip rumours Keir Starmer insisted he would “robustly” protect the UK’s national interests in response to speculation he will visit China early next year and the country’s controversial embassy in London will be approved, reports the PA news agency. The prime minister said that no visit to China had yet been confirmed, while officials refused to comment on speculation about the planned embassy near the Tower of London. But Starmer defended his approach to dealing with Xi Jinping’s country, which was to “cooperate where we can and challenge where we must, particularly on national security”. The decision on the embassy is due next month and The Times reported it had been cleared by MI5 and MI6. The newspaper reported the Home Office and the Foreign Office will not raise any formal objections to the plan, providing that “mitigations” are put in place to protect national security. Starmer is at the G20 summit in South Africa, where China will be represented by premier Li Qiang. Asked if he would meet the Chinese premier during the summit, Starmer said: The meetings I’m having at the G20 aren’t confirmed yet. Nor is any visit confirmed yet. Our approach is the same approach as we’ve always taken, which is cooperate where we can and challenge where we must, particularly on national security. You saw that this week, in relation to espionage, we had a statement in the house setting out the action the government is taking along with MI5 because we will always robustly protect our interests. Critics of China fear the proposed new embassy, on a huge site close to the City of London and crucial data cables, will be used as a base for espionage. A decision on whether to approve it will be made by Steve Reed’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government after a quasi-judicial process expected to end on 10 December. Approval of the embassy would remove one of the diplomatic barriers ahead of the long-expected visit by Starmer to China as he seeks to build business ties with the world’s second-largest economy. Updated at 8.46am GMT 8.29am GMT Agenda of the day Here is the agenda for the day, according to the PA news agency: Friday: Keir Starmer has arrived in Johannesburg for the G20 summit in South Africa. The pime minister is expected to have bilats at 9.20am before meeting business leaders and visiting a train depot at 11.55am. 10am: The third reading of the animal welfare (import of dogs, cats and ferrets) bill will take place in the House of Lords. It is also the second day of the committee stage in the chamber for the assisted dying bill. 3.30pm: Starmer will co-host the Global Fund Summit with South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa. Liz Kendall is on morning media round for the government, while shadow chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart is on for the Conservatives. 8.18am GMT National security 'will always come first', says cabinet minister amid reports government could approve new Chinese embassy Good morning and welcome to Friday’s UK politics blog. National security “will always come first”, science secretary Liz Kendall said this morning amid reports the government could approve a new Chinese embassy in London. Kendall declined to comment directly on the reports, saying decisions on the embassy “will be taken through the proper process”. But she told Sky News: We are clear-eyed about our relationship with China and national security will always come first. That is absolutely non-negotiable. But where we can safely work with China, whether that’s on the economy or areas like research, that’s what we’ll do, because we want to get the best outcome for the British public. Asked about reports that Keir Starmer could visit China next year, she said: I don’t know about the prime minister’s diary plans for the new year, but what I do know is that he takes all of those issues extremely seriously. In other news, the UK government borrowed more than expected in October, official figures show, in the final snapshot of the public finances before Rachel Reeves’s crunch budget. The Office for National Statistics said the government borrowed £17.4bn last month. That was lower than the same month last year, but still marked the third highest October deficit in the public finances on record. It is also higher than the £15bn City economists had forecast. Speaking on the morning media round, Treasury chief secretary James Murray said next week’s budget would set out how Reeves intends to “cut debt”, saying that money spent on national debt should instead be going to “our schools, hospitals, police and armed forces”. Meanwhile, household energy bills are to rise by 0.2% from 1 January after Ofgem increased its next price cap. The regulator said energy bills will rise by about 28p a month for the average dual-fuel household in England, Scotland and Wales. Responding to the news, shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho criticised Ed Miliband, claiming that “his plans will lock us into paying higher bills for decades”. Coutinho said: Ed Miliband promised to cut everyone’s energy bills by £300 but more and more experts are sounding the alarm that his plans will lock us into paying higher bills for decades. Despite gas prices falling, independent experts, energy suppliers and academics say it’s the extra costs of Ed’s net zero targets that are putting upward pressure on bills. This week we had a report that green levies on bills will soar by another £260 by 2030. We simply cannot afford this – cheap energy has to come first. I’ll bring you updates on all of the above and more as they come in. But first, here are some other developments: Keir Starmer has defended his decision to travel to South Africa for the G20 summit days before the budget and despite the planned absence of Donald Trump. The prime minister arrived in South Africa on Friday morning for two days of summit discussions and bilateral talks on topics including sustainability and economic growth. Starmer has accused Nigel Farage of being “spineless” when it comes to tackling racism in his party after the Guardian revealed allegations he made xenophobic and antisemitic comments while he was at school. The prime minister said the Reform UK leader had “questions to answer” about the comments and chants alleged, which included songs about the Holocaust and accusations of bullying towards ethnic minority schoolboys. The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report into the handling of the pandemic has concluded, saying the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives. In a written parliamentary statement, Starmer addressed the failings identified in the report of the previous government. Rachel Reeves has been urged by 40 Labour MPs to drop plans to fund NHS buildings with private finance initiatives (PFI) that would saddle the health service with debt. The Labour MPs, including Cat Eccles, Clive Lewis and Rebecca Long-Bailey, pressed the chancellor to commit to investment in the NHS without the use of private capital and warned that a return to the New Labour era of private funding for public projects would be damaging for trust in the government. The Liberal Democrats are forcing a vote in parliament on creating a new customs union to put pressure on Labour MPs to take a more pro-EU stance. Ed Davey’s party is writing to all Labour MPs urging them to back a new bill in favour of a customs union with the EU, believing this is the best way to boost growth and raise revenue, rather than tax rises. Updated at 8.30am GMT