Britain cannot ignore our allies in our clamour for a superfast new 5G network
Safety first
BRITAIN cannot ignore our allies in our clamour for a superfast new 5G network.
America, Australia and New Zealand have barred China’s Huawei from being involved in theirs. Canada may do too.
That would leave us out on a limb among the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance in ignoring fears that a tech giant so close to the Chinese state could be used for spying.
Theresa May was rightly worried about China’s investment in the Hinkley Point nuclear plant, let alone a vast new communications system.
She has had assurances from our spy chiefs that any threat can be contained. Fair enough. But is it worth spooking our closest friends in the world? Their fears are not groundless. The PM and GCHQ will need to convince them too.
Mrs May must decide fast, though.
The price of being left behind over 5G will be huge.
Green Greta
GRETA Thunberg is in some ways an admirable child: Bright, engaged, passionate about her cause and inspiring to other kids.
What troubles us are the credulous adults fawning over her.
In Greta’s black-and-white view, climate change is frying the planet while wicked corporations cash in and lazy governments “don’t listen to the science”.
It’s simplistic nonsense. Governments try to balance tough environmental action with keeping people in jobs and families fed. The general strike Greta demands — or the end of air travel — would bring only chaos and hardship.
Britain is a world leader in emissions reduction. So why are Greta and her aides here lecturing us instead of China, India or the US? Simple. Most journalists won’t interrogate a girl of 16 over her well-meaning naivety.
But our endless supply of vacuous, needy politicians WILL indulge her.
And the grandstanding Commons Speaker John Bercow will welcome her to Parliament like she was Nelson Mandela instead of a wide-eyed kid too young to vote.
Terror sites
IMAGINE if newspapers gave terrorists a platform to stoke violence.
Or, immediately after a mass suicide bombing, they spread false conspiracy theories guaranteed to inflame tensions.
Or if, weeks after a massacre, their websites still streamed horrific first-person footage filmed by the gunman.
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Imagine, too, if they provided a platform for baseless scaremongering alleging the dangers of routine childhood vaccinations, and the worldwide death rate from measles then soared.
Those papers would rightly face massive penalties. Yet social media giants get away with feebly protesting that they can still police themselves.
The long-term answer must be effective regulation, as it is for any other publisher.
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