Pressure from Trump led to 5G ban, Britain tells Huawei

Geopolitical' factors were behind the move, the company was told, with hints that the decision could be reversed in future

The British government privately told the Chinese technology giant Huawei that it was being banned from Britain's 5G telecoms network partly for geopolitical" reasons following huge pressure from President Donald Trump, the Observer has learned.

In the days leading up to the controversial announcement on Tuesday last week, intensive discussions were held and confidential communications exchanged between the government and Whitehall officials on one side and Huawei executives on the other.