Lidington has on Thursday addressed in the House of Commons the urgent question by Labour Party Deputy Leader Tom Watson MP on the findings of the inquiry into the National Security Council leak, which saw the country’s Defence Minister Gavin Williamson sacked on 1 May for reportedly disclosing plans to allow Chinese telecoms giant Huawei to help build the UK’s 5G network.
In a case of allegation, denied by Williamson, the UK Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill decided it was not necessary to refer the case to the police, according to Lidington’s Parliament statement on 2 May.
A line-up of ministers supporting and opposing the decision to allow Huawei’s involvement was leaked to a Daily Telegraph reporter, which was followed by Theresa May’s suggestion that Williamson was the source of the information spill.
An investigation into the leak was described by UK MPs as necessary to “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”.