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Boris Johnson hints that he plans to defy US and give Huawei role in constructing 5G network – live news
Boris Johnson faces backlash from Tory MPs over plan to give Huawei role in building 5G network – live news
(32 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
We are about to get an urgent question in the Commons on Huawei.
Damian Collins, the Tory MP who chaired the culture committee in the last parliament, asks why Huawei is being considered for 5G when there are concerns about the work it has already done on 4G.
It has been tabled by Tom Tugendhat, who chaired the foreign affairs committee in the last parliament and is standing for election to chair it in this parliament. The elections are on Wednesday.
Warman says these are issues that will be taken into account.
Tugendhat wrote an article on this subject in the Mail on Sunday yesterday. Here is an extract.
Labour’s Chris Bryant says Huawei has been engaged in state sponsored espionage. He says it would not be an appropriate partner.
Speaking at Kings College London Boris Johnson also said that he did not agree with Leo Varadkar about how it might be necessary to extend the post-Brexit transition beyond December 2020 (a move Johnson has ruled out) to ensure time for a proper UK-EU trade deal to be negotiated. Johnson said:
Warman says the government is aware of these concerns.
Boris Johnson has been speaking to journalists at King’s College London mathematics school, where he was at an event promoting the government’s plans for a new visa system intended to attract highly skilled scientists and others to the UK. Asked to respond to the claims from the Tory MP Tom Tugendhat (and endorsed by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo) that letting Huawei have a role in building the UK’s 5G network would hand power to the Chinese government, Johnson denied it. But, in doing so, he effectively confirmed that Huawei would get a role in constructing the 5G infrastructure. He said:
Owen Paterson, the former Tory cabinet government, says he finds this decision extraordinary. He asks why the government is considering taking this risk.
Asked what the government was planning, he said:
This is from Nick Timothy, who was co-chief of staff to Theresa May when she was home secretary and when she was PM until the 2017 general election.
On the BBC’s World at One, Tim Morrison, a former adviser to President Trump on his national security council, said that if the UK were to go ahead and give even a limited role to Huawei in building its 5G network, he did not think Congress would approve a UK-US trade deal. A decision of this kind – which Boris Johnson is expected to announce tomorrow (see 9.36am) – could do “incalculable” damage to the special relationship, he said.
Most of the Tory MPs who have spoken out against Huawei so far are already on the record as being opposed to the prospect of Huawei playing a role in building the UK’s 5G network. But the strength of feeling on this issue is still striking. It is the first time since the election that Boris Johnson has faced any proper opposition from Tory MPs in the Commons on a matter of policy.
When asked if he was saying that there would be no UK-US trade deal if Johnson refused to boycott Huawei, Morrison replied:
Jeremy Wright, the former Tory culture secretary, asks for an assurance that any decision taken by the government will be in accordance with advice from the intelligence agencies.
Morrison, who was on the US national security council until October last year, said that letting Huawei play a role in building 5G would be like allowing the KGB into UK or US telecommunications networks during the cold war. He said:
Warman says he can give this assurance.
Morrison said that, if the UK did go ahead with allowing Huawei a role in building its 5G networks, Americans would see that as London putting its desire to protect Chinese inward investment ahead of its security relationship with the US. Asked whether the US would withhold intelligence from the UK as a result, he said: “We have seen members of Congress call for that.”
Bob Seely, another Conservative, says whoever controls 5G will control significantly our rule of law, our data privacy, and our ability to protect our allies.
And he dismissed claims that it would be possible to mitigate the risks by restricting Huawei’s role to non-core parts of the network. He explained:
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader and former work and pensions secretary, says the UK is effectively involved in a cyber war with China. He says the idea of giving Huawei a role in the 5G network is “bizarre”.
From the BBC’s Nick Eardley
He also says he was told Boris Johnson would not let Huawei play a role in constructing 5G.
Boris Johnson is expected to hold an extensive government reshuffle next month. But, according to a report out today (pdf) from the Institute for Government, he should think twice before he does. The IfG says that in Britain ministers move post too often and that the government would be better run if they stayed put for longer.
Kevan Jones, a Labour former defence minister, says from the briefings he has had, he thinks any risk posed by Huawei could be mitigated.
According to the report, since 1997, secretaries of state have stayed in post for just two years on average. The IfG says this means they move almost as often as football managers, and more than twice as often as the CEOs of major companies.
Crispin Blunt, the former Conservative chair of the foreign affairs committee, says the US position “thinly disguises” a protectionist position. Unless the US can prove that its security concerns are valid, the government should ignore them, he says.
The IfG says that in countries such as Germany and Sweden senior ministers stay in post for much longer than they do in the UK.
The SNP’s John Nicolson asks if Huawei is really the only firm that could produce this infrastructure.
And the IfG says junior ministers tend to get moved even more often. Since 1997 the average housing minister has stayed in the job for just 14 months.
Warman says Huawei is not the only company in this market. There are other providers too, he says.
Tom Sasse, an IfG researcher and one of the authors of the report, said:
Julian Lewis, the former Tory chair of the Commons defence committee, says the intelligence and security committee report should investigate this. He says the ISC published a report on this in 2013. Most of what it said was not made public on security grounds, he says.
“I wasn’t trained to lose,” the Tory Brexiter Mark Francois once famously claimed. But it is remarkable how easy it is to pick up new skills, even in middle age, and the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn says Francois has admitted defeat in his campaign to use crowdfunding to get Big Ben to chime on Friday night to mark Brexit.
Warman says the government would cooperate with any ISC inquiry.
This morning the Scottish government published a 94-page paper (pdf) explaining how the Scottish government could take charge of its own immigration policy and start issuing its own “Scottish visa”. Ostensibly it is an immigration policy paper, but the Scottish government does not have responsibility for immigration policy in Scotland, Westminster does, and so perhaps it would be better to see this as a devolution policy paper, or a contribution to a manifesto for Scottish independence. There is a Scottish government news summary of the plans here.
Tracy Brabin, the shadow culture secretary, says she is deeply dismayed that the PM is not making a statement on this. She says she agrees with Keir Starmer about how the PM is “doing a runner”.
Speaking at the launch of the document in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said:
She says, if Huawei is limited to non-core parts of the network, how will that be enforced?
Asked what would happen if the UK government refused her proposal to allow the Scottish government to take joint charge with London of immigration policy for Scotland (as seems likely – see 11.16am), Sturgeon said:
Warman says the PM will, of course, take responsibility for the decisions he takes.
There are two urgent questions this afternoon.
Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP, is responding now.
Here are some more lines from the press conference that Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, and Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach (Irish PM), held earlier.
He says there is a risk that this decision could “nest a dragon” within the UK’s telecoms infrastructure.
Barnier said he would present a draft negotiating mandate for the trade talks to EU member states next Monday. He said:
He says any decision taken on this tomorrow will affect the UK for years to come.
He also described the next stage as the second round of the negotiation.
He says Vietnam has rejected Huawei. The Czech government has rejected Huawei. He says Germany is taking a decision today.
Barnier said the amount of access the UK got to the single market post-Brexit would depend on the level of its commitment to keeping a level playing field with the EU. He said:
He says ministers should understand the concerns MPs feel about this.
Varadkar said that, although he was “ambitious” about the UK-EU future partnership, there was also a need for “realism”.
He says allowing Huawei to play a role in 5G would amount to letting “the fox into the henhouse”.
He said he did not see the next stage of the negotiations a contest. He said:
Warman says this decision will not be taken lightly.
From Boris Johnson
Here is the Times’s Steven Swinford on the significance of the PMOS’s comments on fishing.
The PMOS is not talking about some of the post-Brexit Whitehall arrangements.
He says there will be 40 officials working in a government taskforce on the EU future partnership.
He says after Friday the UK will no longer sit with the EU at international meetings.
Our permanent representative to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, will become ambassador to the EU.
And he says the ministers will be making visits abroad to promote the UK.
Q: Who is in charge of the taskforce on Europe?
The PM.
Q: So there will be no other minister in charge. Who will Michel Barnier speak to?
The PMOS says Barnier will be able to speak to David Frost, the PM’s EU adviser.
Q: Who will update parliament on Brexit?
The PMOS says Michael Gove will oversee the withdrawal agreement, but the PM will oversee the negotiation.
And that’s it. The briefing is over.
The PMOS says after Friday night the Brexit department will not exist. Asked about Stephen Barclay’s position as Brexit secretary, he says that there will be no department, but that cabinet reshuffle decisions are a matter for the PM.
Yesterday Barclay said that his gut feeling was that HS2 would go ahead. Asked if the PM trusts Barclay’s gut, the PMOS says:
Q: Leo Varadkar said this morning that British ignorance of Ireland was a problem. Does the PM agree?
The PMOS says he has not seen those remarks.
Q: Does the PM accept, as Varadkar implied, that the UK would have to trade access to fishing waters for UK access to financial services in Europe?
The PMOS says:
He says this was made clear in the PM’s election manifesto.
Asked if this means the government is ruling out linking the two issues in trade talks, the PMOS repeats the point about taking back control of fishing waters. He says the PM has left the EU in “no doubt of our determination on that issue”.
He says the government will decide for itself who accesses its fishing waters.
Q: We can determine that we are going to let the French into our waters?
The PMOS says the government has been very clear that the UK will determine who fishes in British waters.
Q: Fishing leaders themselves have said that some EU boats will continue to fish in British waters after Brexit.
The PMOS says he has not said anything that contradicts this.
No 10 does not rule out using fishing as bargaining chip in wider UK-EU trade talks.
Q: Why is there a delay in getting people out of Wuhan?
The PMOS says the Foreign Office has said this morning it is exploring its options. The safety of British nationals is its priority, it says.
Q: Is an airlift possible?
The PMOS says the government is exploring options.
Q: Why is the government announcing a visa scheme for highly skilled people now?
The PMOS says there are concerns that the government is not bringing in enough highly talented people. By announcing the scheme now, the government will be able to bring it in more quickly.
Q: What is your reaction to the Scottish government’s visa plans announced today?
Immigration policy is a matter for the UK government, the PMOS says.
No 10 rules out giving Scottish government control over immigration policy for Scotland.
Back to Harry Dunn.
Q: Does the UK government think Anne Sacoolas was covered by diplomatic immunity?
The PMOS says the government’s view is that she should come back to face justice.
The PMOS says the government will consider the recommendations made by the migration advisory committee in a report coming this week, and then bring forward an immigration bill in due course.
