Boris Johnson’s new communications director lobbied a former chief of staff at Downing Street not to ban Chinese technology company Huawei over spying fears, leaked documents suggest.
Guto Harri, who was appointed No 10’s press chief on Monday in the wake of the partygate resignations, reportedly asked Sir Eddie Lister which ministers he could “nudge” for help.
He met Lister, who was then the prime minister’s chief of staff, as well as three top executives from the technology firm Huawei, which has links with the ruling Chinese Communist party, on 2 June 2020, according to the Sun.
The paper said that Harri, representing lobbying firm Hawthorn Advisors, used the 25-minute video call to ask which ministers to approach at a time when the security service was reviewing the risk of allowing the firm into the UK’s core telecommunications network.
He asked Lister if there were “any ministers we should talk to? Perhaps give a nudge in DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] or Treasury?”.
The paper said that, according to minutes taken at the time, the No 10 chief of staff suggested Johnson did not want to ban Huawei but was “caught” between pressure from the Tory party and the US government.
He said: “This PM is not anti-China and is not Donald Trump,” adding that Johnson “believes in good relationships with China. He is not coming from a negative place in any way.”
He added: “We are caught. We want the technology, we want it rolled out. There’s an American concern and a parliamentary concern. There are a large number of MPs across the political divide who have a problem with China. Some are Atlanticists, some over Covid, some over Hong Kong, some over human rights.”
No 10 defended Harri’s appointment by Johnson on Sunday when his links with Huawei were first reported and said full security checks had been concluded.
However, the former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith joined Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings in calling for further investigation into Harri’s appointment.
He said: “Given the issue of the threat to national security that Huawei poses, that lay behind why Huawei have been banned from our 5G system, it is important that there is clarity in these matters.
“Will Guto Harri now be subject to full security oversight including past involvements with Huawei?”
A No 10 spokesperson told the Sun: “In full compliance with appropriate guidance, government officials met with a number of interested parties, including Huawei, following the change in US policy.”
Telecoms providers were ultimately told they must stop installing Huawei equipment in the UK’s 5G networks.
