Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made an assessment on the effect of the decision to give Huawei permission to build parts of the UK’s 5G network on UK-US digital trade.

The UK has one of the world’s largest and most dynamic economies, and we welcome open trade and inward investment in our digital sectors. At the same time, the UK’s economy can only prosper when we, and our international partners, are assured that our critical national infrastructure remains safe and secure.

We have announced one of the toughest regimes for telecoms security in the world. This should reassure the US and other partners that we are clear about the security risks we face. We worked closely with the US throughout the course of the Telecoms Supply Chain Review and will continue to work closely with them on telecoms security.

We have not taken these decisions lightly, this Government has underlined its commitment to making the UK a world leader in gigabit capable networks like 5G and full fibre, and have taken the decisions necessary to safeguard the UK’s national security interests.