The Prime Minister might well have been hoping that with the dramatic resignation of Gavin Williamson, last night, a linecould be drawn under the issue, however this was not to be the case.
During a raucous PMQ’s Mr Sunak was forced into distancing himself from the former minister and close ally, saying that the alleged bullying perpetrated by him was “unacceptable” and he regretted appointing him to the Cabinet. He added that he expected his colleagues to show “consideration and respect” to others.
The admission came as Labour Leader, Sir Keir Starmer, taunted the Prime Minister, asking “How does the Prime Minister think the victim of that bullying felt when he expressed great sadness at his resignation?”.
Mr Sunak replied: “Unequivocally, the behaviour complained of was unacceptable and it is absolutely right, it is absolutely right, that the right honourable gentleman has resigned. For the record, I did not know about any of the specific concerns relating to his conduct as Secretary of State or chief whip, which date back some years.
“I believe that people in public life should treat others with consideration and respect, and those are the principles that this Government will stand by.”
Sir Keir then demanded to know if the PM stood by his decision to give Sir Gavin a ministerial job just a fortnight ago. Mr Sunak feebly replied: ‘I obviously regret appointing someone who has had to resign in these circumstances, but I think what the British people would like to know is that when situations like this arise that they will be dealt with properly.”
The exchanges during this lunch times parliamentary session, came as a number of MPs called for Gavin Williamson to be stripped of his knighthood if the bullying claims are upheld.
Lib Dem MPÂ Wendy Chamberlain has written to the honours forfeiture committee asking them to look at the case for withdrawing Sir Gavin’s knighthood.
She said: “The complaints being made about Gavin Williamson are extremely serious and suggest a bullying culture at the very top of the Conservative Party. If these complaints are upheld he should be stripped of his knighthood, or else the whole honours system risks being brought into disrepute.
“Rishi Sunak appointed Williamson to Cabinet despite knowing of serious complaints about his behaviour. Since then he sat on his hands for days instead of taking action.
“The very least Sunak could do now is confirm he would support taking Williamson’s knighthood away if the investigations into his behaviour find him guilty.”
It is also being reported that senior conservative party figures predict that his parliamentary career is over, as the recent boundary review sees his constituency disappear as it ismerged with another.
While some senior backbench Conservatives MPsparliamentnews.co.uk have spoken to questioned why when there was an ongoing complaint which Mr Sunak was aware of, he would take the risk of appointing Sir Gavin to such a senior role. Â
Sir Gavin announced his resignation yesterday evening after further bullying allegations emerged. In one particularly damaging claim, it was alleged that he had told a senior civil servant to “slit your throat” and “jump out of the window”.
While the former MP Anne Milton, who served as a Whip alongside Sir Gavin, publicly claimed that he frequently used intimidatory and threatening tactics during his tenure as Chief Whip.
She said, that’s Gavin had used an MPs financial difficultiesas leverage against them to get them to toe the line, behaviour that she described as “unethical and immoral”, adding “I think he feels that he’s Francis Urquart from House of Cards” – a reference to the fictional character created by the former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, Lord Michael Dobbs.
It is the third time Sir Gavin has been forced to exit the Cabinet, after being sacked as Defence Secretary by Theresa May for leaking information and Education Secretary by Boris Johnson after his disastrous handling of exam results during the COVID pandemic.Â
ENDS
