BORIS Johnson is bowing to pressure and planning to cut Huawei out of the UK’s 5G development.
The Prime Minister’s U-turn comes after the controversial deal with the Chinese tech giant, signed earlier this year, was slammed by prominent Tories and the White House.
President Donald Trump branded the move a “betrayal” that would create a back door for the communist state to snoop on Western intelligence.
Under the current deal, Huawei’s role in developing our next-gen network – described as limited but significant – will be reduced to 35% by 2023.
But Mr Johnson is now understood to be aiming to cut the company out completely by that date.
A source told the Telegraph: “[The PM] still wants a relationship with China but the Huawei deal is going to be significantly scaled back.
“Officials have been told to come up with a plan to reduce Huawei’s involvement as quickly as possible.
“He has taken a great many soundings from his own MPs on this issue and he shares their serious concerns.
“The deal was struck before the pandemic hit but coronavirus has changed everything.”
