London, June 9, 2026 (Agencies) — A hidden camera has been discovered inside a ceiling panel at a heavily guarded government building in central London, triggering a security investigation and reigniting fears about foreign espionage at the very heart of the British state — particularly given the building’s role in approving China’s controversial new mega-embassy.
The device was uncovered by security officials within a suite of offices at 2 Marsham Street in Victoria, central London, which houses both the Home Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Ministers have been informed of the discovery, and security services were notified. The device was found in a communal area used by multiple civil servants and not in or near ministerial offices. There is currently no suggestion the camera was planted by Russia or China-linked actors.
Sources told the iPaper that the discovery is understood to have taken place within the past few months. What remains unclear is who installed the device and how long it had been operational.
While there is currently no evidence linking the camera to any foreign state, the timing of the discovery could hardly be more politically sensitive. The Home Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government were both involved in the highly controversial planning decision to approve China’s new mega-embassy at the former Royal Mint site in east London — a project that has sparked months of public and parliamentary controversy.
It had previously been revealed that the proposed embassy site is located near fibre-optic cables carrying vast quantities of highly sensitive information from the City of London, raising concerns that Beijing could potentially infiltrate the UK’s financial infrastructure. Communities Secretary Steve Reed granted planning permission on January 20, noting that no national security bodies had raised any formal concern at the time.
The discovery comes amid a sustained wave of espionage-related incidents in Britain. On March 4, counter-terrorism police arrested three former parliamentary advisers on suspicion of spying for China, including the spouse of a sitting MP. The London Assembly subsequently passed a motion calling on the Mayor to urge the Secretary of State to reverse the embassy approval decision in light of the new developments.
The incident has added to growing espionage concerns in the UK following recent warnings about hostile intelligence operations. Last week, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance warned that Chinese operatives were using fake recruitment campaigns on platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed to target government contractors and military personnel in an effort to obtain sensitive information.
US Congressional reaction has been sharp. Chairman John Moolenaar of the House Select Committee on China said the UK’s failure to properly prosecute alleged spies, coupled with its approval of the mega-embassy, only emboldens Chinese Communist Party espionage activities in Britain, adding that as one of America’s closest security partners with access to American intelligence on China, the UK’s commitment to protecting sensitive information must be beyond doubt.
With a judicial review of the Chinese embassy planning decision looming and security services now investigating the Marsham Street camera, British authorities face mounting pressure to account for a physical security breach at one of the most sensitive government addresses in the country — and to explain how it was possible for a covert device to go undetected for months in a building at the centre of some of the most consequential national security decisions of the year.