Atherstone MP Craig Tracey helps see off rebellion against Government over Huawei 'risk to UK security' through involvement with 5G network

Atherstone's MP Craig Tracey last night helped save the Government from an embarrassing defeat over the involvement of Chinese telecoms firm Huawei in the UK's 5G network.

Mr Tracey voted against the first Conservative rebellion of the new Parliament – led by former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith – which sought to ban "high-risk vendors" from the system after 2022.

Despite 38 Tories rebelling, ministers won with a majority of 24 on Tuesday after moving to head off a revolt over fears Huawei is a risk to UK security. The rebel amendment mustered 282 votes but the 'noes' registered 306.

Critics are concerned that his decision to allow Huawei to supply "non-core" elements of the 5G network could jeopardise security because of the firm's ties to the Chinese state.

The White House has banned the firm from US telecoms networks and has been highly-critical of the Government's decision, which came despite intense lobbying from the States.

Sir Iain had warned MPs that the rebels were "genuinely concerned" about the involvement of the firm he described as being "essentially almost completely owned" by Chinese trade unions controlled by the state.

"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 added.

Former Tory trade secretary Liam Fox urged the UK to "avoid the risk" by not using Huawei rather than seeking to mitigate it.

"In order to achieve greater trade with China, we do not need to sacrifice our national security by including Huawei as part of that risk," he added to the Commons.

Folkestone and Hythe Tory MP Damian Collins, who voted against the Government, warned a further rebellion could follow unless more concessions were made.

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen, who represents the neighbouring constituency to North Warwickshire MP Tracey, also voted with the rebels.

Brexit-supporting Mr Bridgen – a strong Eurosceptic – was an arch critic of the European Union and former PM Theresa May in the last Parliament which ended in December with Boris Johnson winning the general election with a thumping 80-strong majority – the largest in Westminster since Tony Blair was the PM.

Mr Tracey spoke in the House of Commons last week about post-Brexit trade agreements – one of the first to be signed being with Israel.

He asked International Trade Minister Conor Burns what steps will the Government be taking to "further strengthen and enhance our trade relationship with Israel and go beyond the terms of the continuity agreement that is already in place"

The minister said Mr Tracey was "absolutely correct to identify the opportunities for us to do so much more", adding: "We are working with Israeli counterparts to host a UK-Israel trade and investment conference in London, whose primary focus will be scoping out and identifying new opportunities for collaboration between Israel and the United Kingdom."

Coming soon: Later this week Nubs News will be giving our growing readership a 'voice' in the cradle of democracy – at Westminster – with a new Man About The House column.