UK’s Sunak Reviews ‘Serious’ Allegations About Gavin Williamson
Gavin Williamson #GavinWilliamson
(Bloomberg) — Rishi Sunak is considering how to respond to fresh bullying allegations against Cabinet minister Gavin Williamson, whose appointment to the UK government’s top team has raised questions about the prime minister’s political judgment.
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On Monday, The Guardian newspaper reported that Williamson had bullied a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Defence and told them to “slit your throat” while serving as defence secretary under former prime minister Theresa May. Williamson had already been under pressure over a separate bullying claim from another Conservative MP.
“They are serious allegations, they are new allegations,” Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, told reporters on Tuesday, responding to the Guardian story. Blain said no formal complaint had been made but “proper processes” would be considered before commenting further.
Williamson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment made to his office.
While Blain said the premier retained confidence in his minister, the row is a major distraction for Sunak’s new administration, following on from questions surrounding his appointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary less than a week after she quit the same role for breaking ministerial rules. Williamson himself was sacked by May in 2019 for revealing secret information, charges he denied at the time.
The controversies around Williamson and Braverman are early blemishes for Sunak, who pledged integrity and professionalism in his new government but is already battling questions about the conduct of his ministers.
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Earlier on Tuesday, Work & Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told Sky News it would be “utterly, utterly unacceptable” if Williamson had made the remarks as alleged in the Guardian. Williamson — also a former chief whip and education secretary — worked on Sunak’s leadership campaign and is currently a Cabinet minister without portfolio.
The other bullying allegation faced by Williamson is from Wendy Morton, who served as chief enforcer in former premier Liz Truss’s short-lived government. She submitted a complaint over a series of expletive-filled text messages Williamson sent her following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September.
Oliver Dowden, another of Sunak’s cabinet ministers, confirmed on Sky News on Sunday that Sunak was aware of a difficult relationship between Williamson and Morton, though hadn’t seen details of the text messages when he appointed him. The messages weren’t acceptable, Dowden said.
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