Queen's funeral: 'Extraordinary' to invite China, senior Tories say

The Chinese government should not have been invited to the Queen's funeral, a group of MPs and peers has said.

Senior Tory MPs Tim Loughton and Sir Iain Duncan Smith are among those who have written to the Commons and Lords Speakers to express concern.

They said it was "extraordinary" that the "architects" of genocide against the Uyghur minority had been invited.

China's President Xi Jinping is on the guest list for the state funeral but is not thought likely to attend.

His visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan this week mark the first time he has left China since the start of the Covid pandemic.

On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry said Beijing was "considering sending a high-level delegation" to the funeral, although no more details have been provided.

Some 500 heads of state and foreign dignitaries are expected to attend, with invites going out to heads of any state with which the UK has diplomatic relations.

However, representatives from Russia and Belarus have not been invited because of the invasion of Ukraine, nor has anyone from Myanmar because of a breakdown in diplomatic relations following last year's military coup.

Representatives from Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan are also not on the guest list, government sources have told the BBC, and North Korea, Iran and Nicaragua have only been invited to send ambassadors.

The letter to the Commons and Lords Speakers, which was first reported by Politico, was also signed by Crossbench peer Lord Alton and Labour peer Baroness Kennedy.

All the signatories have been sanctioned by China for their vocal criticism of the country, particularly over its treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority group.

Last year, the House of Commons declared that a genocide was taking place against the Uyghurs in north-west China, with more than a million people estimated to have been detained at camps in the region of Xinjiang.

China has denied the allegations, claiming the camps are "re-education" facilities used to combat terrorism.

In their letter, the MPs and peers wrote: "We are greatly concerned to hear that the government of China has been invited to attend the state funeral next week, despite other countries Russia, Belarus and Myanmar being excluded.

"Given that the United Kingdom Parliament has voted to recognise the genocide committed by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people it is extraordinary that the architects of that genocide should be treated in any more favourable way than those countries who have been barred."

They added that is was "particularly inappropriate", given seven Parliamentarians had been sanctioned by the Chinese government and the ambassador had been barred from attending the Palace of Westminster.

They also sought assurances that no representative of the Chinese government would be allowed to come to the Palace of Westminster, saying this would be "wholly inappropriate".

The group said they had also written to the foreign secretary about the issue.