A hidden camera has been discovered in a ceiling panel at a sensitive Whitehall building, the very offices where officials worked on the controversial planning application for China's proposed mega-embassy. Security workers at the Marsham Street complex in Victoria – which houses the Home Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – made the find within the past two months, sparking immediate spying fears.
The covert device was found in a ceiling panel above a communal area used by civil servants, according to reports. Staff have been left shocked, concerned they were being watched and listened to. Security Services have been informed, and inquiries are ongoing to determine how the camera got there and how long it had been in place.
“Secret camera found in Whitehall building used for China mega-embassy planning, sparking espionage fears”
The discovery has renewed espionage concerns surrounding the approved plans for China's new super embassy at Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London. Housing Secretary Steve Reed gave the green light in January, a decision critics slammed as a security nightmare. The building was once Barclays Bank's trading floor, meaning it is wired directly into City financial houses – raising fears that Chinese operatives could tap into fibre optic cables to steal sensitive information. There are also worries that the 208-room complex could be used to carry out espionage activities or even to detain dissidents now living in the UK.
MI5 director general Sir Ken McCallum, in a joint letter with GCHQ’s director, acknowledged the risks. “MI5 has over 100 years of experience managing national security risks associated with foreign diplomatic premises in London,” the letter read. “For the Royal Mint Court site, as with any foreign embassy on UK soil, it is not realistic to expect to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk. And even if this were a practicable goal, it would be irrational to drive ’embassy-generated risk’ down to zero when numerous other threat vectors are so central to the national security risks we face in the present era. However, the collective work across UK intelligence agencies and HMG departments to formulate a package of national security mitigations for the site is a serious undertaking.”
The camera discovery has added a new layer of alarm, coming as it did in the very building where civil servants handled the embassy application. Ministers have been informed, and the investigation continues.