Politics

Gavin Williamson sacking: PM says security council leak matter 'closed'


Gavin WilliamsonImage copyright
EPA

The government does not think it necessary to refer the National Security Council leak to the police, the PM’s de facto deputy says.

Responding to calls from MPs for a police inquiry, David Lidington said the PM considered the matter closed.

He said Gavin Williamson – who has been sacked as defence secretary – had not been accused of a criminal offence, but had lost the PM’s confidence.

Mr Williamson strenuously denies being the source of the leak.

He was sacked following an inquiry into the leak, which led to reports in the Daily Telegraph on plans to allow Chinese company Huawei to help build the UK’s 5G network.

Opposition MPs have said there should be an investigation into whether the Official Secrets Act had been breached.

But Mr Lidington, responding to an urgent question from Labour deputy Tom Watson, said it was not considered necessary to refer it to the police, but ministers would “co-operate fully should the police themselves consider an investigation necessary”.

Mr Lidington said it “boils down to what is set out in the ministerial code” and so the prime minister was “the ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a minister”.

He said ministers should “shut up” after National Security Council and cabinet meetings, appearing to echo Mr Williamson’s words when he told Russia to “go away and shut up” soon into his job as defence secretary.

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Media captionLidington: Ministers should ‘shut up’ outside cabinet

What is the Official Secrets Act 1989?

Disclosure of official information relating to security and intelligence by a “Crown servant” – including government ministers – can be illegal.

For it to be an offence the disclosure has to be damaging and done without lawful authority (ie not as part of the person’s official duties).

Being found guilty of this carries a sentence ranging from a fine to two years in prison.

If the police were to launch an investigation, the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox would decide whether there was to be a prosecution.

Read more: What is the Official Secrets Act?


But Labour’s Mr Watson, who called for a police investigation, said: “In response to receiving the most brutal sacking I can think of, (Mr Williamson) has protested his innocence.

“Therefore this matter cannot be, as the prime minister says, closed.”

Mr Lidington said Mr Williamson had “not been accused of any criminal offence” but had “lost the confidence of the prime minister”, who by sacking him “acted within the ministerial code”.

But Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne argued the process had not been fair, saying: “Natural justice requires that the evidence is produced so that [Mr Williamson’s] reputation can be salvaged or utterly destroyed, doesn’t it?”


Downing Street has made a very serious accusation and is sure enough to carry out this sacking.

For the prime minister’s allies, it will show that she is, despite the political turmoil, still strong enough to move some of her ministers around – to hire and fire.

Mr Williamson is strenuously still denying that the leak was anything to do with him at all.

There is nothing fond, or anything conciliatory, in either the letter from the prime minister to him, or his reply back to her.

Read more from Laura


Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the force would “look at any complaint” made regarding the leak, but it had received no referral from the Cabinet Office.

She said there was a “formal process” for dealing with alleged breaches of Official Secrets Act and police needed a referral.

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said a formal “gateway” process for investigating alleged government leaks was put in place after a review of the way the Met dealt with a series of Home Office leaks.

An inquiry into the leak began after the Daily Telegraph reported on the council’s confidential discussions – including warnings from several cabinet members about possible risks to national security over a deal with Huawei.

At a meeting with Mr Williamson on Wednesday evening, Theresa May told him she had information that suggested he was responsible for the unauthorised disclosure.

In a letter confirming his dismissal, she said: “No other credible version of events to explain this leak has been identified.”

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Media captionOn Tuesday, before he was sacked by Theresa May, Gavin Williamson said in a BBC interview that he had never leaked anything from the NSC

In response, Mr Williamson – defence secretary since 2017 – wrote he was “confident” that a “thorough and formal inquiry” would have “vindicated” his position.

“I appreciate you offering me the option to resign, but to resign would have been to accept that I, my civil servants, my military advisers or my staff were responsible: this was not the case,” he said.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said sources close to the former defence secretary had told her Mr Williamson talked to Daily Telegraph’s deputy political editor, Steven Swinford, but “that absolutely does not prove” he leaked the story to him.

The National Security Council is made up of senior cabinet ministers and its weekly meetings are chaired by the prime minister, with other ministers, officials and senior figures from the armed forces and intelligence agencies invited when needed.

It is a forum where secret intelligence can be shared by GCHQ, MI6 and MI5 with ministers, all of whom have signed the Official Secrets Act.

There has been no formal confirmation of Huawei’s role in the 5G network and No 10 said a final decision would be made at the end of spring.

The US has been campaigning hard among allies to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from delivering 5G, because of its security concerns.

Huawei has denied there is any risk of spying or sabotage, or that it is controlled by the Chinese government.

Penny Mordaunt has taken over as defence secretary – the first woman in the role – and prisons minister Rory Stewart is replacing her as international development secretary.

How damaging was the Huawei leak?

By BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera

Sources maintain damage has been done by the leak.

It was not of the most sensitive possible information. That would be details of intelligence sources and methods.

A leak in Washington a few years ago pointed to the fact that there was an agent inside a group planning attacks on the West from Yemen. That put the agent’s life at risk and compromised a valuable stream of intelligence.

The Huawei leak related to a policy decision. But the damage lies in relations with allies.

The US has been campaigning hard for Huawei to be excluded from new 5G networks.

The leak may not have fully captured the restrictions to be placed on the company even though its role was approved. And because the decision was leaked within hours of the meeting ending, there was no chance to explain the decision to Washington.

The day the leak appeared, a senior official from America’s National Security Agency spy agency spoke to me to reiterate Washington’s concerns and days later a State Department official told me that the US would have to re-evaluate information sharing with allies that used Huawei.

That official also came to London to continue the push. And so the frustration from UK officials is that their ability to explain the policy to the public and to allies was compromised by the speed and substance of what was revealed.



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