This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Johnson facing Commons revolt after 26 Tories back amendment for Huawei to be excluded from 5G - live news
Johnson's majority slashed to 24 as Tory rebels fire warning shot over Huawei's involvement in 5G - 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
The government has won the vote, but it has seen its majority slashed. MPs voted down Sir Iain Duncan Smith’s amendment by 306 votes to 282 - a majority of 24. Allowing for the non-appearance of Sinn Fein, and deputy speakers not voting, Boris Johnson should have a working majority of 87.
This is from Labour’s Lucy Powell, who is missing the vote because her train has been held up.
Earlier during the debate Liam Fox, the Conservative former international trade secretary, made a speech attacking government policy on Huawei. He said he had not accept the government argument that it had to use Huawei to develop 5G. He explained:
Sir Iain Duncan Smith moves his amendment, amendment 1.
MPs are now voting.
The government has won the first vote, defeating a Labour amendment, by 343 to 242 - a majority of 101.
According to the Times’ Steven Swinford, Iain Duncan Smith will put his amendment to a vote.
The debate is now over, and MPs are voting on a technical Labour amendment that has nothing to do with Huawei. Voting will take about 15 minutes, and the government will almost certainly win.
Once that is over, Sir Iain Duncan Smith will get the chance to move his amendment. It is still not clear yet whether or not he will, but some of his colleagues certainly want him to. (See 3.09pm and 3.26pm.) They think the Oliver Dowden assurances did not go far enough.
Owen Paterson, the Tory former cabinet minister and one of the supporters of the Iain Duncan Smith amendment, is speaking now.
Owen Paterson, the Tory former cabinet minister and one of the supporters of the Iain Duncan Smith amendment, is speaking now.
He says last week the government said it eventually wanted no Huawei involvement in 5G.
He says last week the government said it eventually wanted no Huawei involvement in 5G.
But today, he says, MPs wanted to hear how it would get there.
But today, he says, MPs wanted to hear how it would get there.
He says they needed to hear that there would be a point where there would be no high-risk vendors in the network. But he says the government is just talking about being able to get to a point where nobody “has to use” Huawei.
He says they needed to hear that there would be a point where there would be no high-risk vendors in the network. But he says the government is just talking about being able to get to a point where nobody “has to use” Huawei.
He says nobody has to use Huawei; they can always use other suppliers.
He says nobody has to use Huawei; they can always use other suppliers.
What is needed is a commitment to a date at which point there will be no high-risk vendors in the system, he says.
What is needed is a commitment to a date at which point there will be no high-risk vendors in the system, he says.
From my colleague Dan Sabbagh
From my colleague Dan Sabbagh
Seely says, if MPs want to know what GCHQ thinks about Huawei, they should read what the Huawei oversight board says about the company. He quotes from the board saying it cannot give assurances about the safety of the company.
Seely says, if MPs want to know what GCHQ thinks about Huawei, they should read what the Huawei oversight board says about the company. He quotes from the board saying it cannot give assurances about the safety of the company.
These are from the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn on the Tory Huawei rebels.
In the debate Bob Seely, one of the Tory MPs most critical of Huawei, is speaking now.
He says in a Westminster Hall debate last week Matt Warman, the junior culture minister, was clear about how the government wanted to eventually end Huawei’s involvement in 5G. But he says Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, was less clear about this today.
In the Westminster Hall debate Warman said: “We want to get to a position where we are not reliant at all on high-risk vendors.”
This is from the Telegraph’s Christopher Hope.
Oliver Dowden has now finished his speech.
Earlier it sounded as if Sir Iain Duncan Smith was preparing to bank the concessions offered by the government and to pull his amendment - there is a very strong overlap between his list of conditions (see 2.29pm) and the Dowden offer (see 1.34pm and 2.48pm) - but at the last minute it started to look as though Dowden might have fluffed the negotiation. He was initially a bit equivocal about the government being committed to ending Huawei’s involvement in 5G, not just reducing it, and, even when he did clarify the government’s desire to see Huawei out for good, he could not set a timetable for this.
Duncan Smith does not have to say until the end of the debate whether or not he will put his amendment to a vote. In theory the debate could run until 6pm, but it is expected to wrap up well before that.
Dowden is winding up his speech now.
He says he accepts he has not given the Tory rebels everything they want.
But he says that he hopes he has given them some of what they want, and explained how the government can get to the point which they all want to see, where there are no high-risk vendors in the network at all.
He stresses the point about how there will be “huge opportunities” for Tory MPs to propose amendments when the 5G legislation, the telecommunications security bill, comes to the Commons.
The Tory MP Steve Brine says he will not support the Duncan Smith amendment. But he wants to know if the telecommunications security bill will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.
Dowden says he wants there to be maximum consultation on it.
Labour’s Chi Onwurah says he has heard nothing new from Dowden. Is Dowden just talking about diversification? Or is he talking about diversifiction, with a view to having no Huawei involvement?
Dowden says he is making three new commitments today.
He has promised to bring forward a new bill.
He has promised to work with Five Eyes partners on this. And he has said that this process will happen in this parliament.
And he is promising that the national cyber security centre will be allowed to give evidence to parliamentary committees about Huawei.
The Tory MP Bob Seely asks if the government has a timetable for when Huawei might be removed from the network.
Dowden says the government is not setting out a timetable now. But he says MPs will be able to table amendments on this when the 5G legislation comes to parliament.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith intervenes again. He says the commitment to engage with Five Eyes is new, and a five-year timescale is new.
But he says he wants clarity on the government being committed to having no involvement from Huawei. If he does not get clarity, he will push his amendment to a vote.
Dowden says Duncan Smith will be able to raise this issue in the 5G legislation later this year.
He says Duncan Smith’s message has been heard and understood.
He says the government wants to reduce its reliance on high-risk vendors. And he says he wants to get to the position where the government does not have to use them at all.
But to get from point a to point b, the government needs to generate more capacity, he says.
And he says other committees, as well as the intelligence and security committee, will be allowed to scrutinise this.
Asked if the government can introduce 5G without Huawei, Dowden says of course it could be done without Huawei.
Dowden says the government is clear it wants to diversify away from Huawei. He is setting out today how that might happen.
He says the government is committed to working within this parliament to finding the capacity so that it can start to move away from Huawei.
Owen Paterson, another Tory former cabinet minister who signed the Duncan Smith amendment, asks if the government can commit to getting Huawei’s involvement down to zero.
Dowden says the government is committed to diversification.
David Davis, the Tory former Brexit secretary and a signatory to the Duncan Smith amendment, says Dowden is wrong to say there are no alternative providers.
Dowden says Ericsson and Nokia are the only other providers available. But that is not enough at the moment.
But he says the government is committed to working with its Five Eyes partners within this parliament to find alternative providers.
