Boris Johnson has narrowly seen off his first revolt as Tory MPs sought to force the government to ban the Chinese tech giant Huawei from the UK's 5G network .
Despite a direct appeal from the PM, Tory grandee Iain Duncan Smith moved the amendment to remove "high risk" vendors from the network by 2022. It was defeated by 306 votes to 282.
It comes as cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill said former Brexit department officials are now working on the government response to the coronavirus because of their experience planning for various no-deal scenarios.
Former Tory minister Rory Stewart has called for draconian moves such as school closures and the cancellation of events to be implemented immediately to help stop the virus. But Lib Dem leadership candidate Layla Moran urged critics to “stop” calling for emergency restrictions.
Tory rebels bullish after narrow defeat on Huawei
Prominent backbencher Bob Seely, who is knowledgeable on security matters, said it was a 'strong first showing'.
Boris Johnson majority cut to 24 as Tory MPs vote to end Huawei involvement in 5G network
Boris Johnson has suffered his first damaging backbench revolt since his election triumph, as Tory MPs demanded an end to Huawei's involvement in Britain's 5G network.
Up to 40 rebels refused to bow to pressure to step into line – staging a show of strength ahead of another battle they are increasingly confident of winning in a showdown in the summer.
The prime minister won the vote, but a government minister immediately hinted at concessions, saying their message has been “heard loud and clear”.
Narrow victory for Boris Johnson - as Tory MPs rebel over Huawei
The government has seen off a revolt over the role of Chinese tech giant in the UK's 5G network - but with a small margin of 306 to 282.
This is worrying for the PM, considering he has an 80-strong majority - and a sign that Tory MPs care very much about this issue.
MPs begin voting on Telecommunications Bill
We expect Tory MPs to move their rebel amendment on Huawei shortly, which would force the government to ban high risk vendors from the 5G network by 2022.
First, MPs are voting on a Labour amendment to ensure the bill covers renters. This is unlikely to cause any drama.
Health minister challenged on GP bureaucracy during coronavirus
Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth has called on the government to suspend some of the bureaucracy faced by GPs, such as appraisals, so they can focus “entirely” on responding to the coronavirus.
The health minister Jo Churchill says she was having discussions “to make sure we can lift, within the bounds of making sure patients stay safe, all appropriate bureaucracy.”
Huawei decision ‘plum wrong’, says David Davis
More backbench Tory contribution to the telecoms infrastructure bill debate.
The former Brexit secretary David Davis said the decision to give Huawei a role in the 5G network was “plum wrong”.
Former trade secretary Liam Fox said issues of trade and security must not be conflated, telling MPs: “In order to achieve greater trade with China, we do not need to sacrifice our national security by including Huawei as part of that risk.”
Dr Fox said any talk of an economic risk to the UK by not using Huawei is “utterly untrue” given that China still trades with Australia despite the latter ruling out Huawei involvement.
The Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair, Tom Tugendhat, said: “we should be supporting a domestic industry” on 5G technology and “looking to partner with countries and companies that share not just the technology, but actually also the values that underpin that technology”.
UK coronavirus cases rise again
Some 373 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK – up 54 from Monday, the Department of Health has announced. The updated toll came as NHS England said a sixth patient in the UK had died after testing positive for Covid-19.
IDS: Let’s ‘eradicate’ high-risk vendors from 5G network
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, leading efforts to amend the telecoms infrastructure bill, has said his piece on Huawei in the Commons.
“We are genuinely concerned that this country has got itself far too bound into a process in which we are reliant on untrusted vendors and in this particular case, Huawei.”
“But let’s not be in any doubt at all, the one thing I do want to say is that we heard recently that it is the view, and a government minister said this, that Huawei was a private company. Let us be very clear absolutely from the outset, this company is not a private company.
“It ends up being essentially almost completely owned by Chinese trade unions and they of course are exactly locked into the Chinese government. This is a Chinese wholly-owned organisation.”
He continued: “They (Huawei) don't have extra somehow brilliant technology, what they do have however is money and that money allows them to bid down.”
Duncan Smith’s amendment is designed to ban “high risk” vendors from the 5G network by the end of 2022. “I am always flexible on the date providing the intent and commitment to eradicate the involvement of high risk vendors from our system,” he said.
Former Brexit department officials now working on coronavirus response
Cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill said former Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) officials are now working on the government response to the coronavirus because of their contingency planning experience.
He told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs select committee: “Some of the people were at DExEU we’ve been using on the coronavirus work.
“Because of course they did a great deal of contingency planning work over the past few years for various no-deal [Brexit] inflection points.”
‘Not the right bill’ to protest Huawei, says culture secretary
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has written to Tory MPs to address their concerns about Huawei ahead of a potential Commons revolt on the Chinese firm’s involvement in 5G networks.
“I wish to stress again that the government is clear-eyed about the challenges posed by Huawei,” he said.
“That is why the National Security Council made a decision to: exclude them from the security critical network functions in 5G networks, and reduce their presence in other network functions up to a strict market share cap of 35%.”
He insisted that the government’s aim remained to reduce reliance on high-risk vendors as competitors to Huawei emerged.
The rebel amendment to the telecoms infrastructure bill could be pushed to a vote after being selected for debate by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
But in his letter to MPs Oliver Dowden said it was “not the right bill” for the rebels to use in their protest against Huawei.
“Parliament will be able to express its views on the controls on high-risk vendors when the government brings forward the legislation to introduce the new telecoms security regime,” he told them.
Weirdos and misfits in government? No bad thing says cabinet secretary
Cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was asked whether the government could benefit from having more “weirdos and misfits” during his appearance at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs select committee.
He replied: “The idea of trying to encourage people who wouldn’t naturally think of it to come into public service … is a good one.
“Anything that widens the aperture of public service … I think is a good thing.”
It follows Dominic Cummings’ now notorious job advert, in which Boris Johnson’s closest adviser sought “weirdos and misfits” for Downing Street roles.
Lisa Nandy clashes with Piers Morgan over trans rights
Labour leadership hopeful Lisa Nandy became embroiled in a heated row with Piers Morgan over the issue of transgender rights earlier.
The Wigan MP demanded the Good Morning Britain host apologise after he repeatedly asked her to say whether she felt it was “unfair” for athletes who now identify as female to compete in women's sport.
Nandy, who has backed pledges from the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights that call for the expulsion of transphobic members from the party, said it was for sporting bodies to establish a commission to discuss the issue.
Morgan demanded Nandy give a “straight answer” and pressed her again, citing the example of New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, a transgender woman who is now targeting selection for the Olympics having previously competed as a male weightlifter.
Nandy accused Morgan of being “irresponsible” and pitting women’s rights against trans rights. “I will not allow this to become a zero sum battle between two groups of people … you are doing what too many people have done in this debate - you have created more heat and less light. It's just simply nonsense, it’s a straw man.”
She added: “You are attacking some of the most marginalised people in the country.”
When Morgan repeated that he could choose to identify as a “two-spirit penguin”, a claim which drew scores of complaints last September, Nandy joked it would be a “dramatic improvement”.
Tory MP claims no need to reduce meat consumption to save climate
A Conservative MP has suggested that there is no need to reduce meat consumption to stop climate change because vegetarians produce emissions by "flying in soya beans from Brazil".
Harriett Baldwin said she was "worried" that "influential" figures in public life were advocating reductions in red meat consumption because of its high carbon emissions.
The bizarre claim came at a session of the Commons treasury committee, where MPs were hearing evidence from experts on the economic changes needed to reach the government's target of net zero carbon by 2050.
No 10 dismisses threat of Tory revolt on Huawei
Asked whether the prime minister had a message for Conservative MPs considering rebelling over Huawei today, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “Today’s bill is actually to ensure people living in flats can access fast fixed-line broadband.
“Our position is based on the best advice from experts at GCHQ, the National Cyber Security Centre and DCMS.”
He added: “Market failure has left us in this position and we want to get into the position where we don’t have to use a high-risk vendor in our telecoms network.”
The spokesman said the government’s intention was to keep the 35 per cent cap on Huawei involvement in the 5G network “under review” and to reduce its share as other alternative suppliers become available.
Brexit talks will not be postponed, says No 10
Downing Street said that trade talks with the EU were going “exactly as planned”.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said there were no plans to postpone the next round of talks, due to take place in London later this month, because of the coronavirus outbreak.
And he said that the prime minister remains determined not to extend the Brexit transition period beyond the end of December.
The spokesman said: “The talks are progressing exactly as planned. There was a constructive first round of discussions last week and there will be a further set of discussions in London later this month.
“Both sides are very well aware of the timetable they are working to.”
It is understood that EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will be presented with the UK’s draft free trade agreement, along with proposals for a number of side-deals, before the talks in London. No plan to publish the deal has been announced so far.
Accuser of Alex Salmond suffered flashbacks during Weinstein trial
A former Scottish government official who has accused Alex Salmond of sexual assault said she suffered flashbacks following the Harvey Weinstein case, a court heard.
The former first minister of Scotland is on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh over accusations of sexual assault.
The woman was first to give evidence and spoke about two alleged incidents, including one charge that the 65-year-old tried to rape her in June 2014.
The woman, known as Woman H, told the court on Tuesday she began to suffer flashbacks.
She said: "I had started to learn about (the MeToo movement), yes. It was just around that time. It was on the back of the Harvey Weinstein case.
"These issues started to be discussed and I started to have what I could describe as flashbacks. I started to come to the realisation at the October/November 2017 period."
Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Archive/PA Images
The woman had previously told the court that she felt "hunted" by Salmond moments before an alleged attempted rape in Bute House. It is alleged the incident took place after a dinner at the first minister's official residence.
His lawyer Gordon Jackson QC lodged a special defence of alibi for the alleged incident in May 2014.
Consent was also given as a defence for three alleged sexual assaults and an alleged indecent assault against three women.
Salmond faces 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women, all of which he has pleaded not guilty to. The charges span a period between June 29 2008 and November 11 2014, with one sexual assault said to have taken place in the month of the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014.
Salmond - who was Scotland's first minister from 2007 to 2014 - faces a number of other sexual assault charges, as well as two indecent assault charges.
His trial, which is expected to last for four weeks, continues.
Experts to hold talks on coronavirus
As the government continues its efforts to prepare for a possible surge in coronavirus cases, Boris Johnson spoke with the chief medical officer Chris Whitty this morning, and experts are due to meet in the Scientific Adviser’s Group on Emergencies (Sage) later on Tuesday.
Health secretary Matt Hancock will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergencies committee after the budget on Wednesday, when details of legislation to respond to the outbreak are expected to be finalised.
Asked what plans the PM had to help businesses affected by the outbreak, Mr Johnson’s spokesman told a Westminster media briefing: “We, as a government, will take whatever action is required and have said that in the budget on Wednesday you will hear the various options and policies that we can put in place to provide support.
“Separately, the Bank of England have themselves made clear that they will take all necessary steps to protect financial and monetary stability.”
People arriving into Heathrow from high-risk countries will be quarantined at a hotel near the airport, No 10 said. Our health correspondent Shaun Lintern revealed this previously:
Tory rebel amendment selected
The Speaker’s office has confirmed that the Tory rebel amendment to the telecommunications infrastructure bill on Huawei has been selected.
A group of 26 Conservative MPs have put their names to the amendment – aimed at banning “high-risk vendors” from Britain’s 5G network by the end of 2022.
Since the government has a majority of 80, it would require at least another 15 Tories to rebel against the government later for the plan to succeed.
‘Arrogant’ Huawei briefing backfired, says rebel
On rebel MP told 5 News’ political editor Andy Bell that the “arrogant” intelligence briefing arranged with GCHQ officials backfired – helping some Tory MPs make up their mind to vote against the government on the Huawei issue later.
Sadiq Khan opens up 25 point-lead in London mayoral race
A new YouGov / Queen Mary University of London poll has Sadiq Khan heading for a comfortable victory in the big contest in the capital.
The Labour mayor (on 49 per cent) has a 25-point lead over Conservative party candidate Shaun Bailey (24 per cent), while the independent candidate Rory Stewart languishes in third (on 13 per cent).
Voting is set to take place on 7 May.
