Prominent UK Minister Accused of Making ‘Slit Your Throat’ Remark to Senior Civil Servant
Britain’s Education Secretary Gavin Williamson speaks during a virtual press conference inside 10 Downing Street in central London on February 24, 2021
Oleg BurunovUK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under fire for bringing Gavin Williamson back into the government in the capacity of the cabinet officer minister despite the fact that the PM knew the former defense secretary was under investigation for allegedly bullying former chief whip Wendy Morton.When Gavin Williamson was the UK’s defense secretary, he once told a senior civil servant “slit your throat” and on another occasion said that they should “jump out of a window”, a British media outlet reported, citing an unnamed Ministry of Defense source.Williamson, who was appointed cabinet office minister by PM Rishi Sunak last month, served as the defense secretary between 2017 and 2019.The source told the outlet that the 46-year-old made the “slit your throat” remark in front of other civil servants during a Cabinet meeting. The outlet also quoted an unnamed Whitehall source as claiming that Williamson “deliberately demeaned and intimidated” them on a regular basis at the time.The cabinet office minister rejected bullying claims against him, but he did not seem to deny that he used the specific words.“I strongly reject this allegation and have enjoyed good working relationships with the many brilliant officials I have worked with across government. No specific allegations have ever been brought to my attention,” Williamson said in a statement.This came after a female MP accused the ex-defense secretary of raising sensitive details about her private life in a bid to silence the lawmaker in 2016, when she was campaigning on a difficult issue for the government. Williamson was chief whip at the time.
WorldUK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Says State Cannot ‘Fix Every Problem’5 November, 04:06 GMTThe accusations followed a British news outlet reporting late last week that the cabinet office minister sent abusive and bullying messages to former Chief Whip Wendy Morton, in which he purportedly complained that he had not been invited to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September for political reasons. The texts pertain to the period when Williamson served as a backbencher.In one message, he allegedly told Morton that it was “very poor and sends a very clear message” that members of the privy council, including him, who were not “favored” by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss, were deliberately excluded from the list of those due to attend the Queen’s funeral.
After Morton insisted that it was “not the case”, Williamson ostensibly noted that it looked “very sh*t”. In another message, he purportedly warned, “Well let’s see how many more times you f**k us all over. There is a price for everything.”
The UK news outlet also reported that then-Tory chairman Jake Berry informed Sunak the day before he entered No 10 in October as the PM that Morton had submitted a formal complaint to the Conservative party about Williamson’s conduct.On Monday, the UK prime minister defied calls to sack Sir Gavin even though he admitted the former defense secretary’s messages to Morton were inadmissible.Sunak made it clear that he would not be “passing judgment” until after an “independent complaints investigation”, which is thought to be the internal investigation by the Conservative Party.“I want to see the results of that, obviously, but I’ve been very clear that language is not right, it’s not acceptable. And that’s why I welcome the fact that Gavin Williamson has expressed regret about that and now wait to see what the investigation says. There’s an independent complaints process that’s being conducted at the moment. It would be right to let that process conclude before making any decisions about the future”, the PM pointed out.Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper has, meanwhile, accused Sunak of ignoring Morton’s complaint, adding that Gavin should be fired.
WorldRishi Sunak: Example of Justice, or Product of Privilege?26 October, 14:31 GMTCooper was echoed by Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, who pointed out that the UK prime minister’s “pledge to restore integrity, professionalism, and accountability has been exposed as nothing more than hollow words.” According to Rayner, “Far from stopping the rot in Downing Street, he’s letting it fester.”Sunak, who earlier vowed that his government would be characterized by “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level,” officially succeeded Liz Truss as prime minister on October 25.Williamson resigned as UK defense minister in 2019 after the leaking of confidential information from the National Security Council. He was appointed education secretary by then-PM Boris Johnson, but was fired from the government again in 2021 due to controversy regarding the grading of exams during the COVID-19 pandemic.
