UK Politics Thread

[Catfish]

Insert facepalm please.

https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/stat...71096097693696

[STEED]

The government has approved the supply of equipment by Chinese telecoms firm Huawei to the UK's new 5G data network despite warnings of a security risk.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48032286

What's left of your privacy has just gone out the window.

Ann Widdecombe: Former Tory MP to stand for Brexit Party
Ms Widdecombe, 71, said she would still vote Conservative in the upcoming local elections but would stand as a candidate for Nigel Farage's new party in the European elections.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48034732

Join the Remain alliance, urges Change UK at Euro election launch

Why? After all we have a remain party its called the LibDems, so what is the point of this lot of noodles.

[Catfish]

Monty Python's The Life Of Brian film ban lifted after 28 years

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/307...-28-years.html

Took some time..

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by STEED

What's left of your privacy has just gone out the window.

Not necessarily so.

There is no formal confirmation but the Daily Telegraph reports Huawei will build infrastructure such as antennas.

Ciaran Martin, the head of the National Cyber Security Centre - which oversees Huawei's current UK work - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme a framework would be put in place to ensure the 5G network was "sufficiently safe".

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Catfish

Monty Python's The Life Of Brian film ban lifted after 28 years

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/307...-28-years.html

Took some time..

Some local councils are still stuck in the olden days

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Not necessarily so.

What else should they say, Jim? Huawei provides base technology, and before it became a consumer product provider itself, it produced for almost all other companies as subcontractor who used its tehcnology but under their own brand name. Huawei was cheaper than most, and their technicil expertise is not to be put in doubt.

Of course China will use its hardware and diplomatic and financial infrastructure to erode the West and to spread its own interest network, in fact it does this since long. Like American companies do as well.

Using Huawei smartphone myself, though I would never use such devices - no matter the brand - for any serious job or critical data processing/messaging. P9 lite is a very well-done device with good battery and an almost unbeatable price. Their new P30 pro however - that is another thing.

BTW, Microsoft and Google do the same thing when for example equipping schools with their stuff "for free". Its about trainign young people to not think "notebook" but "Chromebook", and not to think "text editor" but "Microsoft Word". Later in their lives they will have turned into loyal brand followers - due to habit since school days. An Apple a day keeps competition away.

[Jimbuna]

It was easier for the US to say no because Huawei have very little business there but if the right safeguards are put in place hopefully matters won't become problematic in the future. They will not have access to the vitally important/sensitive areas as far as I'm aware.

[Catfish]

Huawei?
Not acceptable, I demand my phones only report personal data to NSA, CIA, GCHQ, Google and Apple.
"Somewhere in China: "So many penises!"

And, by the way, Huawei spying not true:
https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comm...ovcn_requests/

"Analysis of false positive on beian.gov.cn requests in regards to Huawei P30 Pro traffic research"

"As a solely maintainer for this project, please accept my deepest apologies for mistakes which cause misunderstadning for Huawei brand and customers. The fact that Huawei P30 Pro initated connections to beian.gov.cn is not true."

[Catfish]

Michel Barnier's speech at Natolin march 29th, 2019
"Europe after brexit" in pdf form.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/site...pe_natolin.pdf

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

It was easier for the US to say no because Huawei have very little business there but if the right safeguards are put in place hopefully matters won't become problematic in the future. They will not have access to the vitally important/sensitive areas as far as I'm aware.

There are plenty of China-produced chips in American missiles.

And yes, I am certain that there are inbuild options to abuse that. Nobody should expect the Chinense to be stupid, and folding over such an opportunity. Like we can take it for certain that Microsoft software gets delivered with NSA-ordered backdoor accesses as well.

Want to be safe, want to be sure on something? Produce it yourself. Accept no international "cooperation", the other will sooner or later compromise your security by selling the stuff you two have cooperated to develope, since policies differ form nation to nation, and so do their interests, and scruples.

And become independent of electronic communication again as far as humanly possible.

There is no safety in electronic IT communication. And you never can be sure about your securit level, whether or not you already are compromised and just dont know it. Yolu just can not know for sure. There is always some brighter fish out there than yourself.

[Skybird]

Oh, and so i read that the Scots want to go for it again...

Any better chances for them to win an independence referendum these days? And would London even allow another attempt? I of course say the Scots naturally do not need anyone's allowance, but formally, by the written paragraphs on paper, it is like that.

If it gets this far and they vote for independence, I only insist that they must be able to econo9mically finance that themselves. I do not want another hungry mouth to be fed by the EU, another net receiver to the EU that just weakens it further. And of coruse, like the EU wants to treat the UK as an ordinbary third party country from outside the EU, the same treatment must be given to Scotland. No special rules, treaties and treatments. If they want to join the EU, they have to go through the full legal process and the full time table.

[STEED]

Senior Tories have ruled out changing their rules to allow an early challenge to Theresa May's leadership, but have asked for more clarity about how long she will remain in office.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48032990

Simple answer right up to Dec if not longer.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Oh, and so i read that the Scots want to go for it again...

Any better chances for them to win an independence referendum these days? And would London even allow another attempt? I of course say the Scots naturally do not need anyone's allowance, but formally, by the written paragraphs on paper, it is like that. [...].

They do have to ask London for holding a referendum.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Catfish

They do have to ask London for holding a referendum.

Yes I know. Its just that a.) I do not accept such oppressive laws as valid and legal, and b.) I do not know whether London would "allow" it (again) at this point of time (Brexit), and after such short time since the last time London allowed it and a referendum was held (and lost with 55% against it).

[Skybird]

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48035802

One of the country's spy chiefs, Mike Burgess, later expanded on this, saying that as 5G technologies matured, the expectation was that the distinction between the edge and core "collapses" because "sensitive functions" would begin to move outside of the protected part.


But, Mr Burgess added, the consequences could be dire if the 5G kit was then compromised and used to mount an attack.
"Elements of the power grid may not work, water supply [and] sewage pumps may not work - it has the potential to impact our country greatly," explained the director general of the Australian Signals Directorate.
And Huawei was considered a company that could be "subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law".
In other words, the fear was that it could be compelled to facilitate a Beijing-mounted cyber-attack.
(...)
Earlier this month, one of President Trump's top cyber-security officials made it clear that the US believes it is not safe to use Huawei kit in any part of a 5G network.
"We view there to be no relevant distinction between the core and the edge of a 5G network," said the US State Department's Ambassador Robert Strayer.
"That distinction had existed in 4G networks because you basically had a smart core - where the intelligence and the software ran - and the edge was dumb, because it was just for the transmission of data to the core.
"In a 5G network, much of the smart computing capacity... will move to the edge."
(...)

"The greater concern with 5G is the potential for disruption of the network, not necessarily espionage."

Red remark: Bingo, as far as I can assess the issue with my limited knowledge. The ability of disrupting infrastructure of a nation is what cyber warfare is about in case a real conflict breaks out. Traffic like in IT and data, control of electricity plants, hospitals, airports, supply logistics, public transportation, media, water...