Cyber alert as Huawei faces 5G ban
BORIS Johnson will press ahead with a ban on using Huawei in the UK’s 5G network despite warnings it could spark a retaliatory cyber-attack from China.
Sources said the Prime Minister’s National Security Council is poised to agree a veto on installing new kit from the Chinese telecoms firm tomorrow.
The ban will be in place by Christmas with ministers also drawing up a timetable for the removal of existing Huawei equipment.
The move comes despite fears it could slow the expansion of highspeed broadband and push up costs for consumers. It is a significant U-turn from January, when ministers ruled firms could install Huawei kit up to a 35 per cent cap.
The company has been designated a ‘high risk vendor’ due to its links to the Chinese state.
A review by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre is said to have found US sanctions preventing Huawei using any Americanpatented technology in its microchips have crippled the firm’s ability to supply secure 5G.
A Whitehall source said: ‘There is no way that we can now say their equipment is safe.’
Beijing has warned that the UK could face consequences if it bans Huawei, which is one of the jewels in China’s industrial crown. Former
British spy chief Sir Richard Dearlove yesterday said this could include Beijing ordering a sophisticated cyber-attack.
Sir Richard, the ex-head of MI6, told Sky News: ‘The Chinese have developed this capability and are prepared to use it.’
A powerful group of Tory MPs had threatened to veto Huawei’s involvement by amending legislation due in the autumn.
Conservative ex-leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned the Government could still face trouble unless it set a tight timetable for removing all the firm’s kit from the mobile and broadband infrastructure.
Sources said security chiefs were confident they could mitigate any risk in the 4G network.
But Sir Iain said rebel Tories wanted it all removed before the next election, due in 2024. He added: ‘The Government needs to bite the bullet.’
Former Labour business secretary Lord Mandelson yesterday accused ministers of jumping on an ‘anti-China bandwagon’ led by Donald Trump.
He told Times Radio: ‘Unprecedented pressure is being brought on us by the United States. Yes, the sanctions they’re mounting are extensive and ferocious... But I’m afraid the political judgment has come before the more objective security and industrial judgment and decision, and I regret that.’
Huawei denies its kit represents a security risk and insists it is not controlled by the Chinese state.
‘Equipment isn’t safe’