British police say leak of top secret Huawei 5G details did ‘not amount to a criminal offence’
- Announcement from London’s Metropolitan Police follows the sacking of British defence secretary Gavin Williamson
The top-secret leak that Britain had conditionally allowed China’s Huawei to develop its 5G network, which brought down the defence minister, does not amount to a criminal offence, police concluded on Saturday.
Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday sacked Gavin Williamson as defence secretary over the leak last month of the bitterly-disputed decision made at the April 23 meeting of the National Security Council (NSC).
Following the police announcement, Williamson, who has strenuously protested his innocence, said he was the victim of a shabby “witch-hunt”.
He hit out at May and Mark Sedwill, Britain’s top civil servant who carried out the government’s internal leak inquiry that led to his sacking.
Williamson said in a statement: “With the Metropolitan Police not willing to do a criminal investigation it is clear a proper, full and impartial investigation needs to be conducted on this shabby and discredited witch-hunt that has been so badly mishandled by both the prime minister and Mark Sedwill.”
NSC discussions are only attended by senior ministers and security officials who first sign the Official Secrets Act that commits them to keep information private or risk prosecution.