Yahoo News Huawei: National Security Council 'will look at conditions' of tech giant's 5G involvement, Matt Hancock confirms
Matt Hanock has confirmed that the National Security Council will look at the conditions of Chinese tech giant Huawei being involved in the UK’s 5G rollout.
The Health Secretary made the comments following reports that the UK Government was preparing to ditch Huawei over "security concerns" about the firm.
Mr Hancock did not deny that the Government is set to do a U-turn on Huawei’s involvement, adding that he “wouldn’t comment on leaks of that kind”.
He told Sky News' Sophie Ridge: “What I can so though, is that when we came out with an interim report on this earlier in the year, there were a number of conditions that needed to be met.
“So I’m sure that the National Security Council will look at those conditions and make the right decision on this to make sure that we have both a very strong telecoms infrastructure… but also that it is secure.
“We have been looking very closely at this.”
Boris Johnson is expected to look over a study this week which will declare that US sanctions on the tech company will force it to use technology that is “untrusted”, reports said.
A report by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre has decided the US sanctions barring Huawei from using technology relying on American intellectual property has had a “severe” impact on the firm, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The newspaper stated that officials are crafting proposals to prevent new Huawei equipment being installed in the 5G network in as little as six months.
Mr Johnson's decision to allow Huawei a limited roll in Britain’s 5G network is believed to have caused tension between London and Washington DC in recent months.
The involvement of the Chinese tech firm in Britain’s 5G network also caused concern among a number of prominent figures on the Conservative backbenches.
The Mail on Sunday reported that the National Cyber Security Centre was instructed to carry out a review on the situation.
It also reported the organisation found that US sanctions had a major impact on the firm’s viability, the newspaper said.
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