Sunak under fire over minister’ s abusive texts

Rishi Sunak is under fire for bringing Sir Gavin Williamson back into the government despite being warned that he was under investigation for allegedly bullying a female colleague.

Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry informed Mr Sunak on the day he took office that the then chief whip Wendy Morton had lodged a formal complaint over a series of abusive and threatening texts.

In them, Sir Gavin angrily accused her of seeking to “punish” MPs like him who were out of favour with Liz Truss by excluding them from the Queen’s funeral.

The exchange of messages, obtained by The Sunday Times, concluded with him saying: “Well let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.”

Despite the disclosure, Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden insisted that the prime minister still had confidence in Sir Gavin, who is now also a minister in the Cabinet Office.

Mr Dowden – one of Mr Sunak’s closest allies – confirmed the prime minister had been aware there had been a complaint made against Sir Gavin but said he had not known the details of the exchange.

“As you have seen from the former chairman Jake Berry, he says that he highlighted that to the prime minister,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

“But in terms of the specific allegations, the specific exchange, the prime minister wasn’t aware of it until last night.”

However, Labour said it once again raised questions about Mr Sunak’s judgment

after he reappointed Suella Braverman as home secretary just six days after she was forced to quit over a security breach.

Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News: “These are incredibly serious issues and I think it really calls into question Rishi Sunak’s judgment and the way he made decisions about his Cabinet.”

Mr Dowden said Sir Gavin regretted sending the messages to Ms Morton at what had been a “difficult time” for the Conservative Party following the election of Ms Truss as leader.

“These were sent in the heat of the moment expressing frustration,” Mr Dowden said.

“It was a difficult time for the party.

“He now accepts that he shouldn’t have done it and he regrets doing so.

“Thankfully we are in a better place now as a party.”

In the messages, Sir Gavin complained it was “very poor” that MPs who “aren’t favoured” had been excluded from the funeral of the Queen 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 is a divisive figure at Westminster where he is viewed with suspicion by many Tory MPs due to his reputation as an inveterate plotter.

A Conservative Party spokesman: “The Conservative Party has a robust complaints process in place.

“This process is rightly a confidential one, so that complainants can come forward in confidence.”

Sir Gavin Williamson.