It has been clear for some time that there were big Qs on Huawei in our country’s telecoms network. Govt approach to 5G decisions and to our national security has been incomprehensibly negligent 1/8 https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1283007965763710976

In January, the Foreign Secretary said Govt would legislate at earliest opportunity on High Risk Vendors. Then they refused to work with Labour or their own backbenchers to enable this to happen. That now seems very short sighted 2/8

I welcome the decision to publish NCSC advice on the decision but there are still big Qs. Even back in Feb, ministers assured me that the trading relationship with US had been taken into account for their January change of policy on high risk vendors https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-02-13/1969/ 3/8

It’s now a year since the UK Telecoms Supply Chain Review Report was published. It promised a diversification strategy which has never materialised (despite the Culture Secretary yesterday claiming it had…) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819469/CCS001_CCS0719559014-001_Telecoms_Security_and_Resilience_Accessible.pdf 4/8

On Tuesday I described this tragic series of events as a car crash for our digital economy - one which could have been visible from outer space. We can and we must invest in the UK firms that could stop history repeating itself in the future 5/8

Earlier this year I offered constructive ideas to get the UK out of the "Huawei hole". Labour have consistently argued to end our national dependence on all High Risk Vendors and improve corporate responsibility for global supply chains. https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/A-five-point-plan-to-get-the-UK-out-of-the-Huawei-hole 6/8

I remain concerned that costs will be passed onto consumers, and that we still do not know enough about the Govt’s plans on FTTP and ESN when it comes to Huawei. We need regular updates and a taskforce created to secure our 5G future without delay 7/8

I urge the Govt to learn the lessons from this Huawei saga. There are implications of this u-turn far beyond my brief as shad digital minister, we must remain focused that for the future of UK we must invest in our digital economy and the critical networks that underpin it 8/8