Bill could expose spy HQs to security risk, say police

Scotland Yard has voiced concern that law promoted by Dorries could let hostile states access buildings

POLICE chiefs have warned that a new law championed by Nadine Dorries would expose some of Britain’s most sensitive buildings to potentially major security risks.

The Metropolitan Police has told ministers that a Bill being spearheaded by the Culture Secretary would give communications firms a legal right to access buildings such as New Scotland Yard.

There are fears that the changes could also expose the headquarters of MI5 and MI5, the domestic and overseas intelligence services.

Police chiefs are said to have repeatedly raised concerns with officials about how the legislation would pave the way for firms to gain a statutory right to enter buildings such as the Met’s London headquarters, as a result of communications equipment installed on the site.

Sources said firms given access could have included companies owned by hostile states such as China.

The Government is already removing equipment manufactured by Huawei, the Chinese technology giant, from Britain’s 5G networks following concerns that its equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage or to disrupt the UK’s critical national infrastructure.

Ministers pursued the legislation, the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, despite the concerns and it sailed through the Commons in May and is due to become law imminently.

Now, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the National Security Adviser, is understood to be examining the bill due to concerns among security figures about the risk to sensitive sites in the UK.

Security figures are pushing for the legislation to be amended to allow the legal right to be waived in cases where it could jeopardise national security.

Sources said that Ms Dorries’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) was now working closely with the Home Office to address the “specific issues” raised by the police.

Home Office figures are said to have “serious concerns” about the legislation, but DCMS is still resisting any changes.

A spokesman claimed that the Bill would not go beyond “previously agreed rights” allowing network providers to access particular buildings – contrary to the position adopted by the Met.

The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill was intended to strengthen cyber protections for devices such as smartphones, televisions and routers, as well as speeding up the rollout of improved mobile and broadband coverage.

The legislation amends the 2003 Communications Act to state that the Culture Secretary “may by regulations make provision conferring rights on network providers in relation to relevant infrastructure for the purpose of facilitating the development of public electronic communications networks”.

These rights include “requiring a person to grant network providers access to relevant infrastructure for specified purposes if specified conditions are met”.

“Network provider” is defined within the legislation simply as “someone who provides, or intends to provide, a public electronic communications network”.

A DCMS spokesman said: “Nothing in the Bill makes it easier for a telecoms provider to access any building, including secure sites, unless the occupier has previously agreed rights for the network provider to use that building.

“Our legislation is making sure the UK has one of the strongest telecoms security regimes in the world.

“We can control and remove any high-risk equipment from our networks.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman

‘Nothing in the Bill makes it easier for a provider to access any building, including secure sites’

declined to comment on the legislation and the concerns.

Last month, BT Group asked the Government for more time to remove Huawei equipment from its network, in response to a ban imposed following a campaign by Tory MPs.

Howard Watson, BT’s chief technology officer, blamed Covid lockdowns for delays.

He said: “At the end of the day, not interrupting service for customers is the critical requirement here.”