Press freedom ‘in jeopardy’ if criminal inquiry is launched
meeting. All those involved should be investigated now to find out who this leaker is.”
He told the BBC that if a minister was found to have been responsible, they could face prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, as matters discussed at the NSC were considered secret.
Andrew Mitchell, the former minister, had previously said that Mrs May should order MI5 to conduct a full investigation, interviewing Cabinet ministers if necessary.
The row over Huawei intensified after The Telegraph revealed that the Chinese telecoms company had been approved by Mrs May to provide “noncore” components of the UK’S future 5G mobile network, which will upgrade the current 4G system.
The US regards Huawei as a security risk because it is obliged to cooperate with the Chinese government and its intelligence agencies, and some Cabinet ministers have argued that the firm should be barred from 5G because it would give the Chinese state a way in to critical national infrastructure.
Dominic Grieve, chairman of the Commons intelligence and security committee, said: “There has certainly been some posturing on a whole range of issues. I can’t pretend that there aren’t people who appear to be preparing themselves for leadership bids. None of this is in the national interest, in my view.”
In the Commons, Labour added to calls for a leak inquiry as shadow Cabinet Office minister Jo Platt said it would be “truly shocking” if the leak was to gain advantage in a Tory leadership contest. Damian Collins, chairman of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee, was among those who warned that the leak inquiry must not compromise press freedom.
He said: “It is the responsibility of journalists to report news where there is a clear public interest, as there was in the Huawei case.
“There should be no requirement for The Telegraph to reveal its source for the story, nor should there be any question of action being taken against the journalists who wrote it.
“Any investigation into the actions of ministers or civil servants for breaching their own codes should be a separate matter.”
Geoffrey Robertson QC, a former UN appeal judge, suggested that if the leak inquiry became a criminal investigation it would be “quite wrong for the Government to require the police to harass journalists”.
He added: “The courts have decided that a critical aspect of press freedom is the right of journalists to protect their sources and for that reason any such leak inquiry would be an attack on press freedom.”