The cabinet office secretary David Lidington has said the UK government will not consider allowing high risk tech firms to supply parts for critical elements of the nation’s 5G data communications networks.

His comments come after reports that the National Security Council had decided to approve Chinese telecoms giant Huawei to provide ‘non-core’ parts of the high speed 5G network, sparking backlash from MPs concerned over allegations of spying by the Chinese government.

Huawei has vigorously denied US concerns that the company could create ‘back doors’ in their equipment to permit intelligence gathering by Beijing.

According to Daily Telegraph, a meeting of the National Security Council on Tuesday resulted in a decision to bar Huawei kit from all ‘core’ parts of the 5G network, as well as restrict its access to the non-core parts.

The leaks of sensitive information from the meeting - which is subject to the Official Secrets Act - have prompted calls for an inquiry.

In a comment reported by Reuters at the CyberUK cybersecurity conference, Lidington said the government took decisions on managing risk to the UK’s telecoms infrastructure on the basis of “evidence and expertise and not supposition or speculation”.

He stated: “We will not countenance high risk vendors in those parts of the UK’s 5G network that perform critical security functions.

“The government approach is not about one company or even one country, it is about ensuring stronger cyber security across telecoms, greater resilience in telecoms networks and more diversity in the supply chain.”

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