David Cameron has serious questions to answer about whether Chinese investment in nuclear power would endanger national security, Labour’s shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy has said.

Nandy called on the government to reassure the public after reports that the intelligence agencies have concerns that possible Chinese investments in Hinkley Point and Sizewell could pose a threat to the UK.

There are said to be particular worries that a Chinese state-owned company could insert backdoor traps into the technology, enabling it to shut down the station in the event of a diplomatic row.

The concerns have emerged on the eve of a state visit to the UK by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, during which George Osborne, the chancellor, hopes a nuclear deal will be finalised. He has already offered £2bn in guarantees to incentivise French state company EDF and Chinese state-owned companies to start work on Hinkley Point in Somerset, the first new plant in a generation, and it is possible the Chinese company could then seek to build its own reactor at Bradwell in Essex.

Ahead of the official visit next week, the Times has reported an anonymous security source as saying: “There is a big division between the money men and the security side … The Treasury is in the lead and it isn’t listening to anyone – they see China as an opportunity, but we see the threat.”

Nandy said Labour and the public were worried about the new nuclear deals not just on the grounds of cost but also security.

“What these revelations have done is to underscore why people are so concerned not just about putting our energy security but actually putting our national security potentially at risk as well,” she said.

“The government should be able to answer those questions before the Chinese visit early next week when they are hoping to firm up the deal.

“The public are entitled to some reassurance about that. The trouble is that what’s ending up happening is they have unravelled plan A (by cutting renewable subsidies) without having any plan B and we are backing ourselves into a corner with real implications not just for households but the nation as a whole. That is why it is so serious.”

Following the report, a Downing Street spokesman said the government would keep security under review at all times but it would not be encouraging China to fund UK nuclear plants if it felt there was any danger.

“As we’ve set out, and as the chancellor has been saying recently, we are in a new era of engagement with China … We are continuing to work with the Chinese in this area but we take security in this area extremely seriously and we will continue to keep it under review at all times,” he said.



The spokesman said the independent nuclear regulator had done all the due diligence and was “content with things as they stand”. “We will obviously continue to ensure that all security and other regulations are followed at all times,” he said, adding: “We wouldn’t be pursuing this course of action if we felt there was a threat to national security.”

Osborne has held up the prospect of a new golden relationship with China ahead of Xi’s visit and was praised by Chinese state-owned media last month for not pushing the issue of human rights.

In contrast, Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, is hoping to use the official state banquet at Buckingham Palace to raise China’s human rights record, after reports that more than 100 lawyers, journalists and other government critics were detained in a crackdown in early July.