Defence Secretary accuses civil servants of ‘leaking details of Huawei’s 5G role’
GAVIN Williamson has infuriated Whitehall mandarins by accusing them of leaking a secret decision about the Huawei telecoms giant.
The Sun can reveal the Defence Secretary pointed the finger of blame at civil servants in the Cabinet Office for the major security breach.
The accusation came as a furious whispering campaign swept Westminster, naming a Cabinet minister as the leaker instead.
Mr Williamson was one of five senior ministers who opposed Theresa May’s decision to allow the Chinese company to supply “non-core” elements of the new 5G network during a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday.
The 42 year-old defence supremo – the Government’s biggest public critic of Beijing – mounted his angry complaint during a face to face meeting with a senior Cabinet Office figure on Wednesday morning, just as the leak appeared in the Daily Telegraph.
The Sun’s revelation follows Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill’s decision yesterday to launch a formal leak inquiry that could see Cabinet Ministers interviewed under caution by the police and top spooks.
In a stern letter he requested co-operation from Ministers, civil service officers and special advisers with access to the deliberations of the NSC meeting.
And senior Tories vented their fury over the leak given the sensitivity of the decision and the intelligence aired at the NSC.
Ex-Defence Secretary Michael Fallon signalled he believed whoever was responsible should face jail for breaching the Official Secrets Act.
He stormed: “If someone leaks once they can do so again and that is a greater threat.”
'UTTERLY APPALLING'
Mr Hunt flatly denied he was behind the leak. He said: “I think it is utterly appalling that that should happen.”
“I have never leaked confidential Cabinet discussions and I never will.”
In a statement, Mr Williamson also denied the leak, saying he nor any of his team had "divulged information from the National Security Council".
On a trip to a Kent Police training college yesterday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said that “if” leaks happen they should “absolutely” be looked at.
It was self-evidently a politician who lost the argument and wanted to get their revenge
Whitehall official
A spokesman for Sajid Javid also confirmed he “categorically denied” being behind the leak.
Mr Williamson’s accusation to civil servants is said to have stunned Mr Sedwill, who told a meeting of mandarins about it later on Wednesday.
The Tory is said to have told civil servants it was “completely out of order” that the security secretariat who had made the Huawei recommendation had leaked the discussion.
But one Whitehall official told The Sun that Mr Williamson’s complaint has “gone down extremely badly”.
RESULT OF POLITICAL RIVALRY
The official added: “It’s pretty poor for anyone to try to finger civil servants for this, when it was self-evidently a politician who lost the argument and wanted to get their revenge”.
A source close to Mr Williamson hit back to say: “Gavin was very angry with the leak, and wanted to know from the National Security Advisor where it had come from”.
Peter Ricketts, the UK’s first national security adviser, said: “I assume this leak is a breach of the Official Secrets Act because everyone around the table would have signed it.”
He added: “The risk is that this leak looks like the result of political rivalry and is therefore affecting national security decision-making.”
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The PM’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister is clear that the protection of information on matters of national security is of the highest importance.”
Earlier Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright admitted a “criminal investigation” into the leak may be necessary.
Former Tory Attorney General Dominic Grieve added that any Minister found to be have been responsible will see their reputation “shredded”.
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