The Prime Minister was attacked by former defence secretary Sir Gerald Howarth who claimed it was in the national interest to know whether Mrs May had made the decision to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to have access to 5G technology in the UK. Sir Gerald told TalkRADIO that Theresa May could have potentially damaged national security if it was revealed she made the decision rejecting the advice of defence and Home Office ministers. 

He said: “No one was placed in danger, there was no danger to national security.

“The crime appears to have revealed that the Prime Minister had decided to reject the advice of her intelligence advisers, to reject the views of key Cabinet ministers involved in security, the Foreign Defence and Home Affairs ministers, and to give access to this crucial 5G network to a Chinese company answerable to the Chinese totalitarian communist Government.

“And a decision which has undoubtedly caused a real rift between us and our most important intelligence ally, the United States of America.

“So I think the question is who is responsible for damaging national security.

It looks to me that the finger points more to the Prime Minister herself

Sir Gerald Howarth

“It does not seem to me to be the person who leaked this information about the Prime Minister’s decision.

“It looks to me that the finger points more to the Prime Minister herself if it is true that that is the decision she made.

“It is in the national interest, it is in the interest of the people of this country what the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is doing in respect of this company which has been widely criticised since 2013.”

The Prime Minister fired Mr Williamson on Wednesday evening and released a strongly worded letter to him which stated there was “no other, credible version of events” other than to hold him responsible, while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said she had been left with “no other option”.

The inquiry by Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill was launched after information from secret discussions about Chinese telecoms firm Huawei’s involvement in the development of the UK’s 5G mobile network was printed in the Daily Telegraph.

Last week it emerged that Britain would allow Huawei a restricted role in building parts of its 5G network, seeking a middle way in a bitter dispute between the United States and China over the next generation of communications technology.

The NSC is a forum in which senior cabinet ministers discuss top secret national security information, and the leak, first reported in national newspapers, sparked anger in Parliament.

Mr Williamson was listed in the Telegraph as being among a small group of ministers whose warnings about Huawei’s involvement were overruled by the Prime Minister.

The former Defence Secretary adamantly denies any involvement in the leaking of the crucial defence meeting information. 

In response to Sir Gerald’s words, a spokesman for Number 10 sad: “The issue of national security is vitally important for the Prime Minister.”

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