WILLIAMSON TO MAY: GO ON THEN... CALL IN COPS
SACKED Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson says he believed the Government was behind the leaked secrets scandal rocking Whitehall.
And he is furious Theresa May refused to call in police to investigate the breach.
The ex-minister – given his marching orders after details of a Chinese bid to run the new 5G phone network ended up in a newspaper – told the Mirror he would be “off the hook” the minute Scotland Yard took a closer look.
His first thoughts on hearing the story about tech giant Huawei had been that the Government had revealed the details from the National Security Council.
He said: “I thought the buggers, they’ve leaked the sodding thing.”
Mr Williamson also revealed remarkable details about his half-hour showdown with the PM.
The former ally made her wait outside her own room while he weighed up whether to quit or force her to sack him.
The PM yesterday declined to ask the police to investigate further and aides said she considers the matter closed.
Meanwhile Mr Williamson continued to protest his innocence, pointing out he had admitted speaking to the journalist who reported the leak. He said: “If someone is a leaker, do they actually inform their private office that they have spoken to the journalist in question?”
He revealed that Mrs May had shown “not the slightest” awkwardness when telling him he was out. “She just read off her script.”
Her said the PM gave him the option of resigning or being fired.
The Mirror understands Mr Williamson asked her to leave her Commons office to give him a moment to think.
He said: “I then told her I’m not going to resign because to resign is to imply I have actually done it.”
And he claimed the PM was “quite visibly shocked” he had not just resigned.
“I said, ‘Well you’d best get on and sack me’. You don’t resign for something you haven’t done.”
Last night Mrs May’s hopes of ending the matter by firing Mr Williamson looked misjudged. Her de facto deputy David Lidington was called to the Commons to face MPs over the affair.
He said the Government would “cooperate fully” with Scotland Yard – but only if police chiefs chose to investigate.
He went on: “The PM has said she considers this matter closed. And the Cabinet Secretary does not consider it necessary to refer it to police.” Mr
Williamson has blamed his sacking on a vendetta with Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill.
The pair clashed repeatedly over defence strategy and budgets.
The former minister, who is replaced by Penny Mordaunt, could be jailed for up to two years if found guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act. Mr
Williamson’s first reaction: Govt to blame Why no Met probe? I’d be off hook at once
Lidington said his ex-cabinet colleague had not been accused of any criminal offence but had instead “lost the confidence” of Mrs May.
He added: “This is not about what was leaked, it is about where it was leaked from and the importance of maintaining trust and the integrity of the National Security Council”. But former national security adviser Lord Ricketts said: “On the face of it, this is a breach of the Official Secrets Act.”
Met Police chief Cressida Dick said she could only act if asked to by the Government. She added: “We have not had any referral from the Cabinet Office.” Labour deputy leader Tom Watson wrote to Mrs May, accusing her of putting Ms Dick in “an impossible position” as she could not investigate without the information gathered by the internal inquiry.
MPs have raised doubts over the “compelling” evidence used to sack Mr Williamson – which was in fact just one phone call. The Mirror understands the journalist involved then spoke to several other ministers. MI5 investigators brought in by Mr Sedwill looked at phone records.
Sources said the timing of Mr Williamson’s call to the journalist – so soon after the NSC meeting – was enough “circumstantial evidence”. One added: “On the balance of probabilities, it was extremely unlikely to have come from somebody else.”
But supporters of Mr Williamson – who last night posted an Instagram picture of him hugging his two dogs – accused Mr Sedwill of a “kangaroo court” with one claiming the inquiry had been so shambolic an MI5 officer had dropped papers all over the floor.