Boris Johnson’s reverse policy to disconnect Huawei from Britain’s 5G mobile network is the result of a decade of misguided foreign policy by the Tory party.
Theresa May hummed and hawed on whether to follow David Cameron’s lead in giving the Chinese state a major role in Britain’s critical infrastructure. He had invited Chinese companies to build and run nuclear power stations.
But Johnson, in a flush of buccaneering Brexit spirit, immediately approved Huawei’s involvement in 5G despite the misgivings of the US and other “five eyes” western intelligence partners.
Johnson’s desperate vision of global Britain surfing the trade waves of the free market relies on a benign attitude to China.
It blinded him to the realpolitik and risk of effectively allowing the Chinese Communist party access to the country’s high-speed communications network.
Coronavirus and the repression of Hong Kong democracy, combined with the thumbscrew pressure from Uncle Donald across the Atlantic, have brought the Prime Minister up short.
He now faces the wrath of a rising superpower and lacks the economic strength in unity of the world’s biggest trading block, the EU, to back him up.
Johnson, and the rest of us, are about to discover that in diplomatic terms, Brexit is a bit like bobbing around in a small boat in the Atlantic, waiting to be hit by the next geopolitical storm.
Taste of freedom
Today marks the most significant loosening of lockdown restrictions since the pandemic.
Scots will be able to enjoy a pint indoors, visit a restaurant and go for a much-needed haircut. People can also book a hotel room.
However, freedom always carries a risk and we are at one of the most dangerous points of the pandemic.
If we take advantage of going to the pub, or to the shops, without complying with public health advice, infection rates could soar again.
The sacrifices of the last three months have been awful. Imagine the heartbreak of having to enter lockdown again.
Now, more than ever, we need to behave responsibly and realise this awful virus could easily come back.
