Gavin Williamson: Fired defence secretary denied access to copy of Huawei leaks report
Exclusive: ‘I don’t know how I can clear my name without a police investigation,’ says former cabinet minister
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Your support makes all the difference.Gavin Williamson has been refused a copy of the report of the investigation which claimed he leaked secrets from the National Security Council, The Independent has learnt.
The former defence secretary believes that the release of the report will prove the weakness of the case against him which led to his firing.
News of the refusal, which comes from senior Whitehall sources, will add to the rising controversy over the affair, with a number of MPs voicing concern that Mr Williamson has been treated unfairly and is not receiving natural justice.
Mr Williamson wants the government to hand over to the police the “compelling evidence” gathered by a Cabinet Office inquiry confirming his guilt, which the prime minister stated was the reason she asked for his resignation.
It found him responsible for leaking information from a National Security Council (NSC) meeting about whether Chinese tech giant Huawei should be allowed into Britain’s 5G network.
Mr Williamson feels he is hamstrung because he cannot call for a police investigation himself.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick has stressed that her force will only step in at the request of the government.
“I don’t know how I can clear my name without a police investigation, but then I have no way of getting one started,” Mr Williamson said. “I have no doubt that an investigation will show that I was not responsible for a leak.”
All members who attend NSC meetings have to sign the Official Secrets Act.
But Ms Dick stressed that an investigation under the act can only take place after a referral by the Cabinet Office or if information has been received “that would suggest criminal offences have been committed”.
Downing Street has stated that it considers the matter closed.
Mr Williamson received unexpected support from the foreign secretary, who asserted that it should be left to the police to decide whether to launch a criminal investigation.
Speaking at a World Press Freedom Day forum in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Jeremy Hunt said: “When it comes to issues like whether there should be a police investigation or not, there’s a very, very important principle of our system that those decisions are not made by politicians, they are made independently by police. And that has to be the correct way forward in this situation.”
Mr Williamson insists that an examination of the notebook of Steven Swinford, the Telegraph journalist who broke the story, would prove that he was not the source of the information.
Officials who worked for Mr Williamson are considering asking Mr Swinford to confirm that he did not receive information for his article from the MP.
However, they also wanted to stress that they respect journalists’ right not to reveal their sources.
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