A group of eight Tory MPs aim to pass a law next week that would remove all Huawei technology from the UK’s telecoms networks, including 5G mobile phone infrastructure, by 2022.
Led by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Owen Paterson, David Davis and Damian Green, the rebels will need to attract at least 44 votes to be able to inflict Boris Johnson’s first parliamentary defeat.
The amendment states that after 31 December 2022, telecoms network operators should not use any equipment supplied by companies deemed to be “high risk vendors” by the National Cyber Security Centre (which Huawei is).
This time frame would pose a problem for the UK’s four mobile network operators – EE, O2, Three and Vodafone – which have all launched 5G services using Huawei technology.
In January, Johnson decided to grant Huawei a limited role in supplying technology for the UK’s 5G networks, although proposed restricting Huawei’s market share to 35 per cent.
The White House has continued to put pressure on the UK over Huawei, following a phone call where President Donald Trump expressed “apoplectic fury” about the UK’s decision to continue working with the Chinese-owned telecoms company.
[See also: Is Boris Johnson about to suffer his first Commons defeat]
US President Donald Trump has suggested that future intelligence-sharing between America’s “Five Eyes” allies – the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – could be undermined if the UK continued to rely on Huawei.
Like Trump, the rebel Conservative MPs believe that Huawei’s continued role poses a security risk to the UK; Downing Street and British intelligence agencies believe this risk is manageable.
In a debate in parliament on Wednesday, Sir Iain told MPs: “We’re in a mess and the only way to get out of that mess is to ensure that Huawei reduces from its present position, not to 35 per cent that the government wants, but simply down to zero per cent.”
[See also: The issue ministers are avoiding when it comes to Huawei]
The amendment is attached to the telecommunications infrastructure bill, and could be put to a vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday. It’s unlikely to be effective due to its limited scope, but it provides an opportunity for rebels to rally, before Downing Street puts forward legislation on its Huawei decision to a vote this spring.
Johnson has previously said that the continued reliance on Huawei is down to “market failure” – that there is no other eligible technology companies for the task.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, digital minister Matt Warman told MPs that the government’s long-term goal was to “reduce our reliance on high-risk vendors and a timetable must be contingent on diversification in the market”.
“Successive western governments have failed to ensure that there is effective competition in the market, and we are faced with a very narrow choice of suppliers for these technologies,” he said.
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