A major friend of the prime minister has stated that Sir Gavin Williamson’s foul-mouthed text conversations with a colleague were unacceptable.
Oliver Dowden, a cabinet minister, stated that Sir Gavin sent text messages to ex-chief whip Wendy Morton “in the heat of the moment.”
Mr. Dowden stated that the prime minister was aware of the allegation against Sir Gavin before appointing him to the cabinet, but had not seen the messages.
The Liberal Democrats have demanded Mr. Williamson’s dismissal.
The Sunday Times published texts allegedly sent by Sir Gavin to Ms. Morton in which he accused her of banning some MPs from the funeral of the Queen.
Wendy Morton, the former chief whip, alleges she voiced concerns about Sir Gavin’s nasty text conversations last month.
And former Conservative party chairman Sir Jake Berry stated that he had conveyed her concern to the prime minister.
Sir Jake, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, claims he informed Mr. Sunak on 24 October about the complaint charging Sir Gavin of “bullying and intimidation.”
Mr. Sunak succeeded Mrs. Truss as prime minister on October 25 and named Sir Gavin as Cabinet Office minister of state.
Mr. Dowden stated that the prime minister was unaware of the contents of the messages when he chose to reinstate Sir Gavin as a minister.
Ms. Morton claims she complained to her party’s headquarters about Sir Gavin’s behavior a month ago, but has yet to hear how it will be addressed.
In September, before the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Gavin allegedly sent her the texts.
In them, he appears to have complained that MPs not “favored” by Ms. Truss were excluded from the Westminster Abbey event.
He accused Ms. Morton of “rigging” the allotment of tickets to penalize individuals, including himself, who were not sufficiently supportive of the then-prime minister.
Sir Gavin allegedly cautioned Ms. Morton “not to push him around” and that “everything has a price”
The Sunday Times quotes Sir Gavin as saying: “Obviously, I regret being agitated at how my coworkers and I felt we were being treated.
“I am pleased to chat with Wendy, and I look forward to working with her constructively in the future, as I have in the past.”
Mr. Dowden stated that the texts were sent “under extreme duress”
Sir Gavin was “frustrated” with the administration at the time, but he acknowledges that he “shouldn’t have sent them, and he regrets it,” as stated by Mr. Dowden.
He added that Sir Gavin and other backbenchers did not have a “nice relationship” with Ms. Morton, which was “no secret.”
Mr. Dowden stated that Mr. Sunak has “whole faith in Mr. Williamson as a preacher.”
However, he declined to comment on whether Sir Gavin would be punished for the texts, which he claimed were subject to a complaints procedure.
It is evident this morning that the government has no intention of removing Gavin Williamson from office.
Rishi Sunak’s right-hand man, Oliver Dowden, informed us that his texts were unacceptable, but attempted to defend him by stating that they were sent during a tense period in Parliament.
The issue for No. 10 is that guidelines regarding what is and is not acceptable behavior in a professional setting do not apply based on your mood.
While Mr. Sunak had not seen the texts, he had been informed that there was a bullying complaint against Mr. Williamson, and he decided to hire him regardless, stating that his administration would be based on ethics and professionalism.
As Justine Greening, a former minister, reminded us, Mr. Williamson was expelled from the government for bad behavior, so there will be political pressure on the Prime Minister on his first foreign trip to address this issue at home.
Ms. Morton and Sir Jake both lost their positions in the reshuffle that followed Mr. Sunak’s ascension to power, although Sir Gavin, the former chief whip and a prominent member of Mr. Sunak’s leadership campaign, returned to government.
Sir Gavin was defense minister in Theresa May’s administration until he was fired in 2019 amid allegations – which he rejected – that he had leaked details of a national security council meeting. He subsequently served as education secretary in Boris Johnson’s cabinet for two years before being replaced.
Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, stated that Mr. Sunak’s decision to bring Sir Gavin back into government demonstrates that he put “party management before the country” and that his judgment is “questionable.”
She stated, “Rishi Sunak’s promise to restore honesty, professionalism, and accountability has been revealed to be nothing but empty words.”
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “These appalling facts raise far more serious questions about Rishi Sunak’s judgment…
“Gavin Williamson would be fired if the prime minister were serious about restoring integrity.”
Questioning judgment
Mr. Sunak is now facing questions on his choice to reappoint Suella Braverman as home secretary after she admitted to using private email for government business on many occasions.
Ms. Braverman was reinstated to her position six days after being forced to leave for two violations of the ministerial code.
After discovering that Ms. Braverman had forwarded confidential information from her private email address to Conservative MP Sir John Hayes, a longtime ally, Ms. Truss requested Ms. Braverman to resign.
Since then, she has admitted to using her email for official business six times so that she could read documents while participating in work video sessions.
In a letter justifying her conduct, Ms. Braverman said there was no confidential or market-sensitive information.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary for Labour, also stated that her party “will use every parliamentary mechanism available to force the government to come clean over her reappointment, to obtain answers, and to demand that the Intelligence and Security Committee be given access to detailed documents.”
