Tory Rebels Fire Warning Shot Over Huawei’s U.K. 5G Access
Tory Rebels Fire Warning Shot Over Huawei’s U.K. 5G Access
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Conservative Party rebels fired a warning shot at Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his plan to allow Huawei Technologies Co. to supply equipment for the country’s 5G networks.
The government defeated an amendment to a minor telecommunications bill in the House of Commons that protested against Johnson’s plans -- but there was a significant rebellion from members of his party. The premier, who has an 80-strong majority in the House of Commons, won by just 24 votes.
During the debate, a series of Tory MPs demanded ministers assure them that Huawei equipment would be removed from U.K. networks within five years -- and afterward, the rebels suggested they won’t let the matter rest.
“The government has heard loud and clear,” Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said after the vote Tuesday, pledging more engagement with the rebels. “We will always put national security at the very top of our agenda.”
The government has repeatedly said it wants to phase out the involvement of high-risk vendors in its networks over time, but the vote suggests that when the main legislation to control Huawei’s 5G involvement comes before Parliament, ministers will have to give the rebels much stronger assurances.
“It was a strong first showing,” Bob Seely, one the 26 Tory sponsors of the amendment, wrote on Twitter. Another, Tom Tugendhat, tweeted that “sadly” he didn’t get the reassurances he sought from the government.
“I hope the policy will change before we come to the main Telecoms Security Bill before the summer,” he said.
The government is already under pressure from security allies, especially the U.S., to bar the Chinese company from 5G entirely. Officials from President Donald Trump’s administration have urged Johnson to reverse his decision over claims that Huawei is an arm of the Chinese Communist Party and its involvement in 5G could enable spying.
Huawei has always denied these allegations.
“An evidence-based approach is needed, so we were disappointed to hear some groundless accusations asserted,” Victor Zhang, a vice president at Huawei, said in an emailed statement after Tuesday’s debate and vote in teh House of Commons. “The industry and experts agree that banning Huawei equipment would leave Britain less secure, less productive and less innovative.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Alex Morales, Stuart Biggs
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.