Tory heavyweights propose amendment to oust Huawei
A group of Conservative MPs will next week seek to pass a law banning Huawei from the UK’s telecoms infrastructure after 2022.
Tory heavyweights including Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Owen Paterson, David Davis and Damian Green have proposed an amendment to the government’s telecoms infrastructure bill that would bar companies deemed to be “high risk vendors” by GCHQ from UK networks within two years. The amendment will be put forward at a Commons vote on telecoms legislation on Tuesday.
It follows the Prime Minister’s controversial decision last month to grant the Chinese company a 35 per cent market share of Britain’s “non-core” 5G network, despite loud opposition from the US amid growing national security concerns.
US President Donald Trump reportedly voiced his “apoplectic fury” in a heated phone call with the PM last week due to fears that equipment made by the Chinese firm could be used by Beijing to spy on rival countries.
Huawei has repeatedly denied claims of any links to Chinese sate surveillance.
Speaking in parliament this week, Duncan Smith said: “We’re in a mess and the only way to get out of that mess is to ensure that Huawei reduces from its present position, not to 35 per cent that the government wants, but simply down to zero per cent.”
He added that Huawei security is “shoddy” at best, and described efforts to dissuade the government from using the Chinese firm’s equipment as like “rehab” for a heroin addict.
“Given that so many nations are saying no to Huawei, this should be an opportunity for us to prioritise national security over the breakneck speed with which the deployment of 5G is being pressed on us,” he added.
Meanwhile, digital minister Matt Warman told MPs that the government’s long-term goal was to “reduce our reliance on high-risk vendors and a timetable must be contingent on diversification in the market”.
“Successive western governments have failed to ensure that there is effective competition in the market, and we are faced with a very narrow choice of suppliers for these technologies,” he added.
A number of Labour MPs have also voiced their scepticism of Huawei. The amendment will need just 40 rebel Tory MPs to overturn the government’s majority of 80.
If successful, the amendment would force the government to set a deadline of Huawei’s involvement with the UK’s telecoms networks of 31 December 2022.
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