Donald Trump was today warned he would risk increasing the terror threat to America if he curbed intelligence-sharing with Britain in a bust-up over Huawei technology in the UK’s 5G network.
Sir John Sawers stressed that during his time as MI6 chief, intelligence from Britain foiled several “major terrorist plots” against the US.
He spoke out amid growing signs that Boris Johnson will rebuff US pressure and allow equipment from the Chinese telecoms giant in “non-core” parts of 5G in Britain.
Citing potential security fears, Washington has been warning that such a move could reduce transatlantic intelligence sharing.
Sir John told BBC’s Today programme: “The Americans know that they depend upon us for security intelligence, just as we do them.
“It’s very unlikely they will increase the threat to the US by curbing their intelligence partnership.”
He stressed that all Chinese-made equipment coming into the UK’s telecoms network for the last decade had been inspected and tested by a special GCHQ unit. Huawei has denied it is used for spying.
