Minister’s four-letter texts over Queen’s funeral tickets

A CABINET Minister threatened a Conservative Party colleague with a warning that there was ‘a price for everything’ in a series of profane messages seen by The Mail on Sunday.

Minister Without Portfolio Sir Gavin Williamson made the foulmouthed attack on Wendy Morton, chief whip under Liz Truss, during a row over tickets for the Queen’s funeral.

The pair also fell out during the tempestuous last days of the Truss administration, when he accused her of being ‘patronising and condescending’ and ‘stupid’.

The messages are now subject of a formal complaint to Conservative campaign headquarters. Twice-sacked Sir Gavin, who was reappointed to the Cabinet by Rishi Sunak in his recent reshuffle, rejected claims that they were inappropriate with a ‘misogynistic undertone’.

He wrote to Ms Morton on September 13: ‘Let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.’

Sir Gavin, a former chief whip himself, added: ‘Don’t forget I know how this works.’

When Ms Morton replies that ‘the number of places was extremely limited’, he responds: ‘It’s very clear how you are going to treat a number of us, which is very stupid, and you are showing f*** all interest in pulling things together. Don’t bother asking anything from me.’

In reply to a later message, Sir Gavin says: ‘Thank you for the patronising and condescending tone. You know you can speak to people in your job, you don’t just text them?’

A friend of Ms Morton said: ‘Wendy was shocked by the tone of the messages sent.’

Sir Gavin said: ‘I of course regret getting frustrated about the way colleagues and I felt we were being treated. I’m happy to speak with Wendy and I hope to work positively with her in the future as I have in the past.’