Former British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has denied leaking information about Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, after he was fired from his role and accused of revealing the secret details from a National Security Council meeting.
The Daily Telegraph reported last week that Chinese technology company Huawei had been selected by the government to help build the UK's 5G network.
On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she had "lost confidence" in Mr Williamson's ability to perform as defence minister and a member of her Cabinet.
“The Prime Minister’s decision has been informed by his conduct surrounding an investigation into the circumstances of the unauthorised disclosure of information from a meeting of the National Security Council," a Downing Street spokesman said.
Mr Williamson submitted his resignation letter, in which he denied responsibility for the leak.
He said it was "a great privilege" to serve as defence secretary and chief whip in the government.
"I am sorry that you feel the recent links from the National Security Council originated in my department," Mr Williamson said.
"I emphatically believe this was not the case. I strenuously deny that I was in any way involved in this leak and I am confident that a thorough and formal inquiry would have vindicated my position.
“I appreciate you offering me the option to resign but to resign would have been to accept that I, my civil servants, my military advisers or my staff were responsible. This was not the case.”
He said he shared Mrs May's ambition to restore public confidence in the council.
Mr Williamson was due to meet British soldiers who would be performing Umrah, but he did not appear because of his sacking.
International Development Minister Penny Mordaunt has been promoted to the position of Defence Secretary.
Ms Mordaunt, a Royal Navy reservist, is the first woman to hold the post.
Rory Stewart has been appointed International Development Minister.
The National Security Council meets weekly and includes the Prime Minister, senior ministers and sometimes representatives from the UK's intelligence agencies and armed forces.
It is a forum where highly sensitive information is shared and those attending have to sign the Official Secrets Act.
The government said no official decision has been made on Huawei's involvement in Britain's 5G network.
Mr Williamson was appointed in 2017 after former defence minister Michael Fallon was forced to resign over allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
"The logical conclusion of the prime minister’s allegation [against Mr Williamson] is that there must be a criminal inquiry," said Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour party.
"Very high-profile civil servants have gone to jail for breaching the Official Secrets Act."
Mr Watson stressed that Mr Williamson is denying the allegations and "deserves to have his voice heard".
But he said: "If he’s breached the Official Secrets Act, there must be a criminal inquiry and justice should take its course."
Former Tory MP Nick Boles tweeted: "No surprise to learn that Gavin Williamson leaked the Huawei information from the National Security Council. Most Conservative MPs assumed it was him. He had the opportunity, the motive and previous form. He has got the comeuppance he deserved."
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
