Huawei: government tries to head off Tory 5G network rebellion

Conservative doubters invited to meeting with senior security expert in effort to allay fears

The government made a last-ditch attempt on Monday to head off a potential Conservative rebellion over the Chinese telecoms provider Huawei, drafting in a security expert to try to reassure anxious MPs.

Tories were invited to a meeting in parliament with Dr Ian Levy, the technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre, as party grandees try to amend a telecommunications bill in an effort to ensure the use of Huawei's equipment in the UK's 5G broadband network would be phased out by the end of 2022.