In 2018, our homes were sold to the Chinese Government in a secretive deal. China has never shown any care for our safety and now the UK Government have abandoned us too!
You may have seen the alarming news that immediately after the Chancellor visited Beijing, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote a letter to the independent planning inspector to say they support the Chinese Government's application to build a 5.4 acre super-fortress embassy at Royal Mint Court.
And guess what? They say the Metropolitan Police's Head of Counter-Terrorism who had written a letter to oppose the plan on the grounds of public safety (and acknowledged the risk to our families), no longer objects and will not give evidence!
The Letter Makes No Mention of the 100 Families that Live on the Site
It is alarming to discover that the Minsters' letter makes no mention of the families that live in the 100 apartments on the land that is actually part of Royal Mint Court - and is owned by the Chinese Government. This is astonishing because our Chairman has written to Ministers to appeal for help, given them a copy of the independent security report by Crilly Consultants (that shows our families are at serious risk), and our plight has been reported by BBC, CNN, The Times and other global news channels. What is going on with Democracy in the UK?
The First Duty of the UK Government is to Protect its Citizens
While we understand the UK government's obligations to provide diplomatic premises to foreign nations, it is horrifying to note that the risks to UK citizens living on the land have been seemingly disregarded. The stance of both Ministers appears to ignore the government's fundamental duty to protect its own citizens, which is deeply troubling.
The UK Government Have Neglected Us
The failure to even mention the threat to the lives of residents who will have the Chinese Ambassador as their Landlord, watching over us day and night, with a right to enter our homes, is tantamount to negligence. The UK government has the power to mitigate all these risks by helping the Chinese Government to select an alternative location for their diplomatic mission, one that does not pose such significant security challenges.
The Chinese Government Does Not Respect Us
Our Association Chairman Dave Lake has made multiple appeals to the Chinese Ambassador since 2018, letters have translated into Chinese as a mark of respect, and there have been meetings. He asked for assurances that the PRC will enable residents to extend their leases or transfer the freehold to the local council and not force us to leave our homes so they can expand their already enormous embassy site.
The Embassy has consistently declined to discuss these matters until planning is approved. This refusal, and the proposal to install a temporary style wooden boundary fence as a dividing line raises fears that the Chinese Government intends to take back the entire 100 apartments at St Mary Graces Court once they secure diplomatic status for the site. This will add another acre to their 5.4 acre site by the Tower of London, and leave us homeless.
The UK Government Could Protect Us
If the UK government are determined to allow the embassy, it is in their power to set additional conditions beyond those stated in the Ministers’ letter. For example, the construction of a blast wall to shield the 100 homes from blast in the event of a terrorist attack and an agreement to transfer the control of the leases and freehold to the local authority. Such measures would ensure that adequate security provisions can be put in place to safeguard the residents. This action by UK Government is vital given the Chinese Embassy's lack of incentive to protect non-citizens on its land.
We Urgently Need Your Help
There is no legal help for the ordinary working man or woman to oppose the mighty Chinese Communist Party, the second largest supper-power on earth. They can spend hundreds of thousands of pounds to hire a top legal team to get a planning application approved, and now they even appear to have enormous influence over our democratically elected government Ministers.
Therefore, we urgently need to raise £30,000 by the beginning of February for legal fees to help stop the Chinese Government and UK Government Minsters walking roughshod over the basic human rights of British citizens. This is not just for our community, it is standing up for democracy.
To be represented at the Inquiry, we need to be legally represented to make this appalling situation known to world.
Whatever you can spare us, will help David stand-up to Goliath.
Learn more: Discover the story about the secretive deal that led to this situation by reading this story on Mail Online and the Wikipedia page for Royal Mint Court.