Tory rebels to step up fight against Huawei

Backbenchers warn they will mutiny again over Telecoms Security Bill – and will get more support

BORIS JOHNSON has been “put on warning” by his own MPS over Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network.

Yesterday he narrowly saw off his biggest backbench rebellion since the election, as nearly 40 Conservative MPS voted against the Government in a bid to force the Chinese firm out of the market by 2022. It came after a potential compromise was allegedly pulled by Downing Street.

The MPS included eight former Cabinet ministers, among them Sir Iain Duncan Smith, David Davis and Dr Liam Fox, who warned they would renew their efforts unless ministers committed to a time frame for removing “high-risk” vendors from the network.

In a move that poses a major headache for the Prime Minister, the rebels have threatened another mutiny when a second piece of legislation, the Telecoms Security Bill, is brought forward later this year. They are likely to be joined by a number of the 22 Tory MPS who abstained on yesterday’s amendment, meaning the Government’s 24vote majority could be overturned unless concessions are granted.

Sir Iain, the ringleader of the rebellion, told The Daily Telegraph: “If the Government proceeds down this road they are going to get knocked down. This is an early warning that the path they are engaged on is the wrong path… We expect the Government to bring the Bill back and what is absolutely clear is that colleagues who didn’t vote will do next time if nothing changes.”

He was joined by Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, who told the Commons earlier: “The Government should be on warning... that this House believes that we need to wean ourselves off Huawei.”

The rebellion came despite attempts by ministers to broker a compromise, with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden promising to put the UK in a position to end its reliance on Huawei by the end of the current Parliament in 2024. He said the Government would work with its Five Eyes partners to bolster Western companies competing with the Chinese firm and promised to work with the rebels to address their concerns.

“[Huawei’s market share] is already capped at 35 per cent. We want to get to a position where we don’t need to rely on them at all,” Mr Dowden added.

However, his refusal to commit to a firm deadline for removing Huawei from the 5G market failed to placate the rebels, with 36 Tory MPS voting against the Government.

It came amid claims that a potential concession floated to the rebels on Monday evening, which would have seen the Government commit to the “eradication” of high-risk vendors, was later blocked by Downing Street.

Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said: “The Government has examined the evidence and concluded that Huawei should not be banned on cyber-security grounds, and two parliamentary committees have done the same and agreed.”