Sunak rejects calls to sack Gavin Williamson over abusive texts

Rishi Sunak has defied calls to sack Gavin Williamson despite conceding the senior minister’s threatening and abusive texts to a colleague were “not acceptable”.

The British prime minister is under fire for bringing Sir Gavin back into the government when he knew he was under investigation for allegedly bullying former chief whip Wendy Morton.

Downing Street said Sir Gavin maintained the full confidence of Mr Sunak, who insisted he would not act against the Cabinet Office minister until the outcome of a Tory party investigation.

Labour leader Keir Starmer argued that the twice-sacked minister was “clearly not suitable” for the job and that Mr Sunak appointing his ally to government showed he was “weak”.

Locks, chains, diversions: How Columbia students seized Hamilton Hall

---

Supermarket magnate driving Panama’s politics from embassy storeroom

---

Many young Chinese feel they have been denied the dream of globalisation

---

EU enlargement anniversary overshadowed by concerns about Russia

---

In a series of expletive-laden texts exposed over the weekend, Sir Gavin accused Ms Morton of seeking to “punish” MPs out of favour with then-premier Liz Truss by excluding them from Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, warning: “There is a price for everything.”

Mr Sunak told broadcasters travelling with him to the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt that he would not be “passing judgment” until after an “independent complaints investigation”, understood to be the internal investigation launched 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,” he said. “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.

Former Conservative party chairman Jake Berry said he informed Mr Sunak on the day he took the reins as Tory leader that Ms Morton had lodged a formal complaint over the messages.

But the prime ministr went ahead with the appointment the next day, with Downing Street citing his belief that Sir Gavin would make an “important contribution” to government.

Mr Sunak has insisted he was unaware of the details of the exchange at the time he brought Sir Gavin back into government, in the vague role of “minister without portfolio”.

Asked on Monday if the prime minister had full confidence in the Cabinet Office minister, his official spokesman said: “Yes.” Pressed on why Mr Sunak gave Sir Gavin the job, he added: “Obviously he thinks he has an important contribution to make to government.”

Sir Keir told broadcasters it was “disappointing” to be having a discussion about the Mr Sunak’s judgment “yet again”. “He’s clearly got people around the cabinet table who are not fit to be there,” he said during a visit to Imperial College London. “That is because he was so weak and wanted to avoid an election within his own party.”

Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said the Cabinet Office minister should be fired, as “in any other workplace, someone who behaved as he did would have been rightly dismissed for gross misconduct”.

But Sunak ally and former Cabinet minister George Eustice played down the row as “a storm in a teacup”, questioning why a complaint had been raised in the first place.

In the messages, obtained by The Sunday Times, Sir Gavin complained it was “very poor” that MPs who were not “favoured” had been excluded from the queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.

Ms Morton repeatedly insisted that his claims were unfounded and that the government had been allocated an “extremely limited” number of tickets.

Sir Gavin responded: “Well certainly looks it which I think is very sh*t and perception becomes reality. Also don’t forget I know how this works so don’t puss me about. It’s very clear how you are going to treat a number of us which is very stupid and you are showing f**k all interest in pulling things together.

“Also this shows exactly how you have rigged it is is [sic] disgusting you are using her death to punish people who are just supportive, absolutely disgusting. Well let’s see how many more times you f**k us all over. There is a price for everything.”

Sir Gavin, who was knighted earlier this year, is a divisive figure at Westminster where he is viewed with suspicion by many Tory MPs because of his reputation as an inveterate plotter.

He was sacked first by Theresa May as defence secretary for leaking details of a National Security Council meeting and then by Boris Johnson as education secretary over a Covid-19 A-levels debacle.

However, he was regarded as a key figure in Mr Sunak’s campaign over the summer to become party leader. − PA