British prime minister Boris Johnson nearly faced an intra-party revolt over his decision to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to help the U.K. build its 5G network, as 36 Tory Members of Parliament voted with the Labour Party on Tuesday in an attempt to ban the move.
The amendment to ban the deal, which was proposed by former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, failed by a narrow vote of 306 votes to 282. Prominent votes against Huawei included several former cabinet members, along with the chairmen of the defense and foreign affairs select committees.
Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, also voted for the amendment.
In January, Johnson announced that the U.K. would allow Huawei to assist in the construction of the country’s 5G network, despite U.S. concerns that Huawei served as a proxy for the Chinese government. A poll at the time of Britain’s Conservatives found 77 percent opposed giving Huawei access to Britain’s network.
Johnson’s government responded to the vote by promising to “engage intensively” with the dissenters, while the Tories in question called the vote a “warning shot.”
Smith said in the wake of the vote that Tories are “genuinely concerned” that Johnson’s government is being “reliant on untrusted vendors” like Huawei.
“The reality is that when it comes to security versus cost, my view is security wins every single time because I worry when we start compromising security,” he said. “We have no friends out there any more on this issue, whether it’s the Canadians, the Americans, the Australians, the New Zealanders, they all disagree with us.”
Liam Fox, Britain’s former trade secretary, added that the idea that Huawei is the only option for assisting in 5G’s infrastructure development is “untrue.” The Trump administration began work in February to help tech companies catch up with Huawei on 5G.
“The US is going to get 5G without Huawei because they will not bring that risk into their own national security,” Fox stated. “So what is wrong with the United Kingdom having to wait a little longer to get 5G?”
Last week, reports emerged that the U.S. was beginning a review of its military and intelligence assets in the U.K. to determine which needed to be removed in the case of the Huawei deal.