The UK government may be backing down from its demand that Apple provide a backdoor to its end-to-end encryption for British law enforcement as the US places pressure on British officials.

Back in January, the UK Home Office issued a secret order to Apple to create a backdoor to its end-to-end encryption that would be accessible by law enforcement. Encryption has long been scorned by law enforcement agencies as a barrier to investigations.

Apple, however, disputed the ask, instead opting to remove its encryption technology – advanced data protection (ADP) – rather than create a backdoor that it says could create a security risk, as well as impinge on people’s privacy.

Since this went public, the US has critiqued the UK Home Office for the order, with US Vice President JD Vance calling the backdoor order “crazy.”

Now, the Financial Times has reported that Whitehall officials say that the Home Office is “basically going to have to back down” due to ongoing pressure from the US.

“They are working on a way around it now,” another Whitehall source said, as reported by the FT.

The sources told FT explicitly that: “One of the challenges for the tech partnerships we’re working on is the encryption issue. It’s a big red line in the US – they don’t want us messing with their tech companies.”

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As the UK attempts to make the UK an attractive destination for major tech companies, it is trying to balance this with concerns from law enforcement on how encryption may be impeding investigations into online crimes such as child abuse, drug sales, and terrorism.

However, as tensions between the US and the UK simmer down when it comes to tariffs and trade, the UK likely does not want to risk any business assurity with the temperamental US government.

Apple plans to challenge the UK order, saying in February: “We have never built a back door or master key to any of our products, and we never will.”