Matt Hancock appeared to have no time for Donald Trump’s boasts this morning when asked about the US President taking credit for the U-turn on the use of Huawei technology in our 5G network. Asked on Sky News whether he believed that the decision to scrap Huawei’s involvement was down to Trump, the Health minister replied that: ‘we all know Donald Trump don’t we… people can claim credit’.
Hancock instead insisted that it was a ‘technical decision’ based on NCSC advice ‘to make sure that we have the highest quality 5G systems over the coming years’. He then referred viewers to the statement made by culture minister Oliver Dowden announcing the decision on Tuesday.
Mr S wonders though if Hancock was really paying enough attention to his colleague in the Commons. On Tuesday, Dowden made clear in his announcement that the UK position had changed because of US sanctions on the telecommunication company, which barred it from using US technology – meaning the company would have to rely on riskier third-party vendors.
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