British Prime Minister Theresa May fired her defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, on Wednesday saying an investigation suggested he was to blame for leaking discussions about Chinese telecoms company Huawei from her National Security Council (NSC).
Last week it emerged that Britain would allow Huawei a restricted role in building parts of its 5G network, seeking a middle way in a bitter dispute between the United States and China over the next generation of communications technology.
May wrote to Williamson that an investigation into the leaks had provided “compelling evidence suggesting your responsibility for the unauthorised disclosure.”
Williamson had repeatedly denied that he was responsible for the leak.
May appointed international development minister Penny Mordaunt to succeed Williamson as defence secretary, and named prisons minister Rory Stewart to Mordaunt’s former role.