A cabinet mole-hunt took less than a week to find its man
LEAKS IN WESTMINSTER are common. Leaks from meetings of the National Security Council , which include cabinet ministers, generals and an array of spooks, are not. When details of Theresa May’s decision to allow Huawei, a Chinese telecoms group, to build next-generation infrastructure in Britain appeared in theon April 24th, an inquiry was duly launched. It took barely a week to find its man. The supposed mole? Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary.
Despite his fervent protestations of innocence, Mrs May sacked Mr Williamson on May 1st. Her letter to him was brutal. There was “compelling” evidence that he had leaked details of the meeting. Mr Williamson’s denials were ignored—no other “credible” story existed, the prime minister said. Mr Williamson has been replaced by Penny Mordaunt, previously the secretary for international development, who also attended the fateful meeting but managed to keep her mouth shut.
The subject matter of the leak was sensitive. America has for months been lobbying its allies to freeze Huawei out of their 5G telecoms networks, arguing that China could use the firm’s gear for spying or sabotage. It has had only mixed success. Australia banned Huawei outright. New Zealand turned down a request from a local firm to use Huawei’s gear. But Germany has pushed back, as has the European Union. Britain’s decision to give Huawei a limited role makes it the most prominent refusenik.
America has said it may cut back intelligence sharing with countries that ignore its warnings. That is probably bluster: if nothing else, Britain’s geographical location makes it too useful to simply abandon . Instead, the Americans may hope that by keeping up the pressure they may persuade a future government to reverse the decision. The NSC was split on whether to allow Huawei in. Mrs May ignored its more hawkish members and gave the green light.
Several likely candidates for her job, including Ms Mordaunt, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and Sajid Javid, the home secretary, were among those who voted no—as did Mr Williamson. Unlike the rest of this small cast, Mr Williamson now has little chance of having another say.
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