Prime Minister Boris Johnson's defiance of US President Donald Trump by giving the green light for Chinese firm Huawei to have a limited role in the UK's 5G network has sparked anger.

The National Security Council, in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in Downing Street decided that "high-risk vendors" should be permitted to play a peripheral role in the network.

Advice issued to telecoms operators by the National Cyber Security Centre said such vendors should be barred from all safety-related and critical networks and locations including military bases and nuclear facilities.

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High-risk firms will also have their presence limited to no more than 35% in the periphery of the network, known as the access network, which connects devices and equipment to mobile phone masts.

The Government has promised to legislate "at the earliest opportunity" to put the new guidance into law.

Mr Trump's administration had lobbied against the UK allowing Huawei access as the US engages in a global struggle for influence with China.

Washington was informed of the Government's decision only after it was announced, but Mr Johnson is expected to speak directly to Mr Trump.

Senior Republicans in the US were quick to hit out at the announcement.

Liz Cheney, a congresswoman and daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, said it was "tragic" that the Prime Minister had "chosen the surveillance state over the special relationship".

Senator and former presidential nominee Mitt Romney said: "The UK's decision to incorporate Huawei into its 5G network is a disconcerting sign.

"By prioritising costs, the UK is sacrificing national security and inviting the CCP's surveillance state in. I implore our British allies to reverse their decision."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told MPs there would be no impact on the Five Eyes alliance - the partnership between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"I want to be absolutely clear that nothing in this review affects this country's ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks both within the UK and with our partners including the Five Eyes," he said.

"GCHQ have categorically confirmed that how we construct our 5G and full fibre public telecoms network has nothing to do with how we share classified data."

Huawei vice-president Victor Zhang welcomed the UK's "evidence-based" decision.

"Huawei is reassured by the UK Government's confirmation that we can continue working with our customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track," he said.

The maker of Imperial Leather has pinned its hopes in the UK on a range of environmentally friendly soaps as it said that the second half of the year is likely to be better than a meek first six months.

Revenue at PZ Cussons fell 3.1% over the first half to £293.3 million.

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On an adjusted basis, pre-tax profit dropped by 11.9% to £28 million.

The company said it expects profit before tax to improve in the second half of the year, as long as the tough market does not worsen.

It hopes that a range of refillable hand wash containers, and other products due to be launched later this year, can help the UK kick off again, stabilising its troubled business in the country.

Z Cussons said it had managed to grab market share in the UK's washing and bathing market in the last six months, "despite a difficult trading market".

"The group's adjusted results for the first half of the year were impacted by challenging market conditions across our key geographies," said chair Caroline Silver.

The company made an operating loss of around £600,000 in Africa after serious congestion around the port in Lagos, Nigeria, ate into its bottom line.

The news comes just days before chief executive Alex Kanellis, who has been in the role for more than a quarter of a century, is set to step down.

Ms Silver said that "plans to appoint his successor are well advanced."

Mr Kanellis leaves the business after its started shedding parts of operations in a bid to refocus on its core assets.

Last year, it sold the Greek food-maker Minerva for £41 million, to a Luxenbourg-based investment company.

Shares in the company pushed around 1.3% higher to 197.2p.

Investors in the troubled fund formerly run by Neil Woodford have been told how much they will receive when it makes its first payout since being suspended in June.

The fund will return between 46p and 59p to investors per share they own. The payout will depend on what kind of shares the investor bought.

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The Woodford Equity Income Fund was split into different share classes, some of which had a minimum investment threshold of £150,000.

Link Fund Solutions, which has sold off assets to return cash to investors, said the first payment will hit bank accounts on Thursday.

However, the fund still needs to sell off the remaining 30% of the fund's assets, a task which is likely to be much harder than selling the more liquid 70%.

Liquid assets, which include shares in publicly traded companies, are easier to sell off quickly without losing money.
Now it falls to investment bank Park Hill to find buyers for shares in companies that are not sold on a stock exchange.

"Selling the liquid holdings was the easy bit," said Ryan Hughes, the head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, a stockbroker.

"For Park Hill, it is a hugely challenging task to sell the illiquid holdings in a timely fashion and investors still remain in the dark as to how long they will have to wait for the remainder of their money, and importantly, how much they are actually likely to get back."