A group of British MPs have sent a letter to London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, demanding a criminal probe into the sacked defence secretary Gavin Williamson’s behaviour in connection with his alleged involvement in the Huawei leak, according to The Daily Mail.
The newspaper cited Lib Dem MPs Jo Swinson, Sir Vince Cable and Sir Ed Davey as saying in the letter that the investigation is needed “to ascertain whether the actions of Mr. Williamson constitute a breach of the Official Secrets Act, given that the leak originated from the National Security Council and related to highly-sensitive information”. The offence stipulates a maximum two-year jail term.
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Also demanding police action was Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson, who tweeted that “if he [Williamson] has leaked from the National Security Council, he should be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act” and that he “should forgo his ministerial severance pay”.
Scotland Yard responded by saying in a statement that they are aware of the Huawei leak-related media reports and that it is “a matter for the National Security Council and the Cabinet Office to look at”.
“At this time, we’re not carrying out an investigation”, the statement pointed out.
This comes a day after Theresa May sacked Williamson, in a move that was prompted by his “conduct surrounding an investigation into the circumstances of the unauthorised disclosure of information from a meeting of the National Security Council”, according to a statement by 10 Downing Street.
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Williamson reacted to the statement by saying that he flatly denies that he was complicit in the Huawei leak.
“I am sorry that you feel that recent leaks from the National Security Council originated in my Department. I emphatically believe this was not the case. I strenuously deny that I was in any way involved in this leak and I am confident that a thorough and formal inquiry would have vindicated my position”, Williamson wrote in a letter to May.
In her letter on sacking Williamson, May, for her part, underscored that she considers “the matter closed”, in an apparent indication that she would like to avoid a police investigation.
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This followed earlier reports that May endorsed Huawei's partial participation in the building of Britain's future 5G mobile phone network.
Huawei has been accused by several countries of being sponsored by Beijing and spying on its behalf through its devices; the Chinese tech giant vociferously denies the allegations.