Gavin Williamson ‘told senior official to slit their throats’: New claim by MoD official puts more pressure on under fire cabinet minister
- MoD official said Mr Williamson ‘deliberately humiliated and intimidated them’
- Said Sir Gavin made ‘throat slit’ comment in front of other officials
- Rishi Sunak said he has full confidence in him despite claims from female MP
- She said he brought up sensitive details about her private life in an attempt to silence her
- Comes days after abusive messages from Sir Gavin to head whip were revealed
Sir Gavin Williamson told a senior official last night to “slit your throat” and “jump out a window.”
A Ministry of Defense official claimed that Sir Gavin regularly “deliberately humiliated and intimidated” them when he Minister of Defence between 2017 and 2019.
They told the Guardian that the ‘slit your throat’ comment was made in front of other shocked officials during a meeting. The “jump out the window” comment was made on another occasion, they claimed.
The official, who later left the government, said they reported the alleged behavior to the Defense Ministry’s head of human resources but made no formal complaint.
They told the newspaper that Sir Gavin was “screaming and furious” and a senior military official from the department later apologized for not calling the now cabinet minister.
Sir Gavin denied having bullied the official, but did not seem to deny that he had used the specific words.
A Ministry of Defense official claimed that Sir Gavin Williamson (pictured today) regularly ‘deliberately humiliated and harassed’ them when he was Defense Secretary
He said in a statement: “I strongly reject this allegation and have had good working relationships with the many brilliant officials I have worked with across the government.”
The allegation was revealed the day Downing Street insisted that Rishi Sunak maintain full confidence in Sir Gavin, despite a female MP came forward to accuse Sir Gavin of bringing up sensitive details about her private life in an attempt to silence her.
Downing Street has urged Rishi Sunak (pictured today at Cop27 summit) to maintain full confidence in Sir Gavin
The MP claims that when Sir Gavin was whip chief in 2016, he was raising an issue about her private life at a time when she was campaigning on a difficult issue for the government, The Times reported.
And this accusation came just days after the abusive messages Sir Gavin sent to former head whip Wendy Morton were revealed.
No. 10 said Mr Sunak will let the complaints process run its course before deciding whether to take any action.
Yesterday senior Tories criticized Sir Gavin, with Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross saying he would fire all his front benchers who used the kind of language in the messages.
In the expletives-laden texts to Mrs Morton, Sir Gavin accused her of using the Queen’s death to “punish” senior MPs who were out of favor with Liz Truss by excluding them from the funeral guest list.
In one he wrote, “Let’s see how many more times you fuck us. There is a price for everything.’
Anne Milton, a former Tory MP and deputy head whip under Sir Gavin, said: ‘Using information as leverage against MPs has no place in modern politics. I’m surprised he’s been appointed minister.’
In the expletive-laden texts to former head whip Wendy Morton (pictured), Sir Gavin accused her of using the Queen’s death to “punish” senior MPs who were out of favor with Liz Truss by excluding them from the guest list of the funeral
Yesterday, Mr Sunak said: ‘I have been very clear that language is not right, it is not acceptable.
“And that’s why I applaud Gavin Williamson’s regrets and now we’ll have to wait and see what the investigation says.”
It comes when it is revealed that Sir Gavin has failed in his attempt to prevent his constituency from being split up. The revised proposals from the Boundary Commission for England published today would see the county of Staffordshire go from 12 to 11 MPs.
Sir Gavin’s South Staffordshire seat will merge with part of South Dudley, currently held by Tory MP Mike Wood.
