Boris Johnson’s new communications director lobbied the British prime minister’s office not to ban Chinese technology giant Huawei in the UK, The Sun newspaper reported. On Feb. 5, following a string of resignations of his senior staff in Number 10 Downing Street, Johnson named Guto Harri, a former BBC journalist who served as his spokesman and chief of staff during his first term as London mayor, as his new director of communications. The Sun reported on Feb. 6 that Harri, who had been working for lobbying firm Hawthorn Advisors, was “directly involved” in talks with senior officials in 2020 trying to persuade the government not to ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G networks. Johnson initially favoured a limited role for Huawei, but eventually decided to strip Huawei equipment from Britain’s 5G networks by 2027, due to pressure from the United States and his own backbench Conservative members of Parliament. Responding to …