Tory party divided over Huawei’s involvement in parts of 5G network
Senior Tory MPs have slammed Prime Minister Theresa May’s “short-sighted” decision to allow Huawei to participate in parts of the UK’s 5G network.
The Chinese firm will be banned from core parts of the network, but will be allowed to supply equipment to non-core areas such as antennas, despite warnings from UK spooks about flaws in the security of its products.
Read more: Huawei ‘will be blocked’ from UK’s core 5G network
A string of senior Tories have voiced concerns about the decision, which was made at a meeting of the National Security Council yesterday.
“Allowing Huawei into the UK’s 5G infrastructure would cause allies to doubt our ability to keep data secure and erode the trust essential to Five Eyes cooperation,” said Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Tugendhat also said senior intelligence officials in the Five Eyes partnership had warned the difference between core and non-core parts of the network is not always clear-cut.
“This is a concern that has been raised extremely clearly to me,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
Cabinet ministers including home secretary Sajid Javid, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and defence secretary Gavin Williamson are all said to have raised concerns about the decision.
Spy bosses and MPs have been mulling the issue of Huawei's presence in the country's 5G network, amid concerns it could be used by Chinese authorities for spying.
The latest report from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which oversees the monitoring of Huawei’s equipment, warned security flaws in the firm’s products could pose a risk to national security.
But NCSC boss Ciaran Martin told the BBC a framework would be put in place to ensure the UK’s 5G network is “sufficiently safe”.
Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said the decision was “serious cause for concern”.
“We should not be issuing contracts to companies to build vital digital infrastructure like the 5G network, unless we are convinced that they pose no security risks,” he wrote on Twitter.
Tory MP and Foreign Affairs Committee member Bob Seely described the move as a “bad and short-sighted decision which fails to heed the warnings of US and Australian experience.”
“I fear this has not been thought through or treated with the importance it deserves,” he added.
The debate around Huawei has threatened to cause division within the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement between Western countries.
The US has previously warned its allies diplomatic ties could be compromised if they allow the Chinese firm to participate in telecoms infrastructure.
Norman Lamb, chair of the Science and Technology Committee, said it was clear there is “significant disagreement” within the government over the issue.
Read more: Huawei: US ban 'belittles' national security
He called for Huawei to appear in front of the committee, and called on the government to publish its telecoms supply chain review “without delay”.
A government spokesperson said the findings of the review will be published in due course.