Theresa May refuses to release Huawei leak report to sacked defence secretary Gavin Williamson
Prime minister also declines to say she is ‘convinced’ Mr Williamson is guilty – despite earlier pointing to ‘compelling evidence’
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has refused to release the Huawei leak report to Gavin Williamson as he continued to protest against his sacking – or even say it exists.
The prime minister also declined to say she is “convinced” that her former defence secretary was the guilty party, despite earlier claiming there was “compelling evidence”.
The stance is certain to inflame the anger of Mr Williamson’s supporters, after he said he was the victim of a “vendetta” and his dismissal was “politically motivated”.
Meanwhile, there will be no criminal investigation into the affair – after the government refused to refer it to the police, despite experts warning of a breach of the Official Secrets Act.
Ms May was asked three times if she would bow to Mr Williamson’s request to be handed a copy of the conclusions reached by Mark Sedwill, the national security adviser, but refused to budge.
“This was an inquiry that was properly conducted,” she told Sky News. “As a result of that, I took the decision that it was necessary for the secretary of state for defence to leave his post.”
Quizzed by The Independent, Downing Street would not say if the report existed in physical form, or whether Sir Mark’s verdict had simply been delivered verbally.
Mr Williamson was fired on Wednesday, when No 10 named him as the source of a leak of the apparent decision to give Huawei a limited role in building the UK’s 5G network.
The move has angered the US, which has banned Huawei from government networks and put pressure on the UK to do the same, over fears – denied by the company – that it is a vehicle for Chinese government spies.
It had been discussed by the top-secret National Security Council – prompting suggestions that any leak from that body constituted a criminal offence.
But the Metropolitan Police insisted its hands were tied without a referral from the cabinet office, appearing to rule out a police inquiry.
In an earlier ITV interview, the prime minister would not say she was “convinced” by Mr Williamson’s guilt, and on Sky News she made clear there would be no cooperation with him.
“The importance of this was not about the information that was leaked, but where it was leaked from,” she said.
“Around that table in the National Security Council, people have to have trust in what is being said so that we can take those decisions in the best possible way.”
Mr Williamson’s fate was sealed by an 11-minute conversation with The Daily Telegraph reporter who revealed the Huawei decision and what No 10 called his lack of “candour” about its contents.
The former May ally believes that was the only evidence against him – but, in the absence of a report, it is unclear whether that is the case.
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