‘Real hawk’ Frost could take tougher stance on China and Huawei
BORIS JOHNSON’S new National Security Adviser is expected to take a tougher line on China and the role of Huawei in Britain’s 5G infrastructure, defence sources have said.
David Frost, the UK’S Brexit negotiator, was described by one source as “a real hawk” on foreign policy, and could take a “much tougher” line than his predecessor Sir Mark Sedwill.
The Daily Telegraph understands that Mr Frost is expected to take a different position on Huawei to Sir Mark and that the outgoing Cabinet Secretary reportedly advocated in favour of keeping the Huawei deal.
The Prime Minister has continued to face a US backlash for approving the Chinese telecoms giant to construct part of the UK’S 5G network.
A review by the National Cyber Security Centre of Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G has since been launched.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence select committee, added that he anticipated “No 10 will be tasking the new National Security Adviser to prioritise a review of our relationship with an increasingly assertive China, which is clearly not maturing into the global citizen the world had once hoped”.
He said: “Beijing is deliberately shunning international accountability and any desire to follow global rules. It will be for Mr Frost to establish what role Britain might play in re-invigorating Western resolve to challenge China’s competing geopolitical ideology.”
Aside from his stance on China, many have questioned Mr Frost’s lack of a security background and queried how “someone who came up the diplomatic route” would be best placed to “step into this career, which is usually a civil servant role”. “It raises the question: do you have to have the right proven politics to get into senior positions now?” one former senior civil servant said.
Sir Mark had a background in security, having served as an ambassador to Afghanistan, as deputy high commissioner in Pakistan and as a weapons inspector for the United Nations.
“It’s a co-ordinating role, and the person usually has some background in security,” the source added. “It’s a very complex, involved, rich area and he’ll have a very steep learning curve.”
Another senior Tory MP described him as someone who “doesn’t set the world on fire”, but was well liked by the Prime Minister. He cautioned that Mr Frost did not have the “links to the agencies that Mark had”.
Robert Hannigan, former director of GCHQ, told the BBC’S World at One that “having a political appointee doing a national security role is a good thing” and said the role was “about shaping under the prime minister of the day’s vision”. He added that the UK’S relationship with Europe would be “crucial to our economic future and therefore to our national security future”.
Mr Frost’s role as Brexit negotiator will end once an agreement is ratified.