Donald Trump has described Boris Johnson’s decision to allow the Chinese company Huawei a role in building the UK’s 5G network as a ‘betrayal’ – as the security row places relations between London and Washington under increasing strain.
The US President is understood to have used the term to a senior White House figure after he protested to Mr Johnson about the deal during a heated phone conversation earlier this month.
The rift in the special relationship could hardly come at a worse time, with the US Government preparing to set out its demands for a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK in just over a week’s time.
The US President is understood to have used the term to a senior White House figure after he protested to Mr Johnson about the deal during a heated phone conversation earlier this month
Last week, Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s chief of staff, met senior Downing Street officials to argue that giving Huawei access to the network would have a ‘direct and dramatic impact’ on the US’s willingness to share information with the UK, because of concerns that the firm could compromise the UK’s communications systems at the behest of Beijing.
In a sign of the deteriorating relations, diplomatic sources say that Washington is considering a raft of restrictions on the amount of intelligence it shares with the UK.
Currently, members of the Queen’s Privy Council – which includes Cabinet Ministers and senior Opposition figures, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – are allowed by convention to view classified intelligence shared with them by Downing Street.
The rift in the special relationship could hardly come at a worse time, with the US Government preparing to set out its demands for a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK in just over a week’s time
But US officials have discussed insisting on more restricted circulation of the material, on the grounds that when 5G is established, the security of communication between members could not be guaranteed.
Politicians in Washington have also discussed restricting the security access of British scientists working on sensitive tasks such as nuclear projects in the States.
The row could also have an impact on the sharing of technology used to control drone flights, as well as the exchange of sensitive data from US spy satellites.
The Government admits the firm is not a ‘trusted’ supplier, but says the risk can be managed by only giving it a limited role in the networks
It comes as former Tory Cabinet minister David Davis today describes the move by Mr Johnson to let in Huawei as ‘the worst intelligence decision since MI6’s recruitment of Kim Philby’ – the notorious Soviet double agent.
Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, opposite, Mr Davis, who served as Brexit Secretary in Theresa May’s Government, argues that ‘China has spied aggressively on Western states for decades, stealing military and technological secrets on an industrial scale’.
He adds: ‘As an overwhelming priority, Boris Johnson should reverse his decision on Huawei’.
No 10 sources acknowledge that there was a ‘lively’ phone conversation between President Trump and Mr Johnson when the Prime Minister made the decision to allow Huawei to provide parts of the new high-speed national telecoms network, due to be completed by 2025 – according to one version, Trump was ‘apoplectic’ – but they deny that Trump used the term ‘betrayal’ directly to Mr Johnson during the call.
Mr Mulvaney warned about the impact on intelligence sharing if Mr Johnson did not reverse the decision.
‘Our governments share a tremendous amount of security information,’ he said.
‘We are very much concerned that integrity of that information is hardwired into your computer systems, and if you folks go forward with the decision to include Huawei, it will have a direct and dramatic impact on our ability to share information with you. Period, end of story.’
Huawei denies that it presents a security risk. The Government admits the firm is not a ‘trusted’ supplier, but says the risk can be managed by only giving it a limited role in the networks. It will be banned from the most sensitive elements and will have its role restricted to 35 per cent of the rest of the network.
Larry Kudlow, President Trump’s most senior economic adviser, also weighed into the row by calling Britain’s attitude toward Huawei ‘suboptimal’.
He said that the White House planned to hold a conference with Huawei rivals to try to accelerate the development of affordable competing 5G wireless technology to deny Huawei its competitive advantage.
Tory MPs are preparing to rebel over the issue by demanding a ‘meaningful debate’, with opponent Bob Seely warning that Mr Johnson should not present the 5G decision to Parliament as a ‘fait accompli’.
He said: ‘We are concerned it will backfire on the Government if it is seen as trying to get it through under the cover of secondary legislation. It’s simply a debate Parliament has not yet considered.’
US officials have discussed insisting on more restricted circulation of the material, on the grounds that when 5G is established, the security of communication between members could not be guaranteed. One of the tech company’s offices is pictured above in Reading