So much for a simple Chinese takeaway. In his never-ending search for growth, Sir Keir Starmer has finally alighted on the obvious answer: cosying up to the liberal-minded democrats of Tiananmen Square. The Prime Minister is expected to fly to Beijing in the new year, once the long-awaited Chinese super-embassy in Tower Hamlets secures planning approval next month. No wonder 2025 is the year of the snake, eh?
But there now seems to be a spanner in the works, ahead of the mooted approval on 10 December. For a group of American politicians are up in arms about the possible threat to global financial security. Steerpike has been shown a letter by a quartet of Nebraskan congressmen addressed to Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury. It warns that the Royal Mint Court site in London poses potential risks to ‘Nebraska-based insurers and financial-services firms and, by extension, the broader US financial system, arguing that:
Because the site may provide a vantage point for physical access to fiber-optic lines, the risk extends beyond accidental outages and could include intentional metadata capture or traffic interception… Many U.S. insurers and financial-services firms rely, directly or indirectly, on systems routed through London. Should an incident occur, the underwriting, operational-resilience, and reputational capacities of firms far removed from London could be strained.
Senator Eliot Bostar went further, telling Mr S:
It is one thing for the UK to take decisions that imperil its own national security, but quite another for risks to be taken which impact United States financial services. As a close ally of the UK and Five Eyes partner, we expect credible assurances, not denials or obfuscation. Such assurances have yet to be provided.
So much for the ‘special relationship’, eh?
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