BORIS Johnson has dropped a big hint he will allow Huawei into the new 5G network by promising a compromise “solution” to the row.
The controversial decision to allow the Chinese telecoms giant to help build 5G’s rollout is expected when the National Security Council meets at 9.30am tomorrow.
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But opponents have given up hope of changing Boris’s mind, with one Cabinet source telling The Sun: “It looks like a done deal”.
The PM also faced a wave of anger from senior Tory MPs yesterday in the Commons today, who bombarded him with waves of angry warnings.
The also decision comes despite bitter US opposition to allowing Huawei any role over Chinese hacking fears, lead by President Donald Trump himself.
The PM is expected to follow mandarins’ advice to give the firm limited access, as long as it is restricted to non-core elements such as aerials and its market share is capped.
Quizzed on the dilemma, Boris said: “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have technological progress here in the UK, but also protect our security interests.
“We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives, and that’s the way forward.”
‘If we get it wrong, we will pay for many years’
But Tory foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat forced ministers to answer an urgent question on the row in the Commons today.
Mr Tugendhat branded agreeing to use Huawei parts as like “allowing the fox into the hen house when really we should be guarding the wire”.
He added: “If we get it wrong, we will pay for it for many many years and effectively we’ll have taken back control from Brussels at the risk of only handing it over to Beijing”.
Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and ex-Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt also each issued public appeals for a rethink over how it would boost Beijing’s global tech dominance.
Mr Hunt warned how it would give the UK “a dependency” on China, and Ms Mordaunt asked: “Do we value protection of IP and ideas? Do we care how a company treats its workers?”
Others accused the PM of betrayal, with ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith saying he was “led to believe” Boris would reject Huawei participation.
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Three members of the National Security Council want a ban on Huawei – Priti Patel, Ben Wallace, and Liz Truss – but they are now outnumbered by the PM and five others, including Sajid Javid, who is thought to have changed his mind.
But two former national security advisers backed Boris.
Sir Mark Lyall Grant, who was national security adviser when Theresa May’s senior ministers came close to backing Huawei a year ago, said he would be “surprised” if President Trump got his way and the company was barred, adding: “I think we have to take the advice of the experts”.
Another former national security adviser Peter Ricketts said the risk was “being blown out of proportion”.
Mr Johnson faces a bitter backlash from Washington DC when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s arrives in London for talks on Wednesday.
