A senior Conservative minister allegedly told a senior civil servant to "slit your throat" in what they claimed was a bullying campaign. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure over his decision to bring Gavin Williamson back into Government after The Guardian reported fresh incendiary claims about his conduct.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) official told the newspaper that the then defence secretary made the remarks in front of colleagues in a meeting, and on another occasion told them to "jump out of the window". The Cabinet Office minister said he "strongly" rejects the allegation and insisted he has "enjoyed good working relationships" with officials.
But the allegations, including that Williamson "deliberately demeaned and intimidated" the civil servant on a regular basis, is bound to add to the calls for his sacking. The Prime Minister is under fire for bringing his ally back into the Government when he knew he was under investigation for allegedly bullying former chief whip Wendy Morton.
In a series of expletive-laden texts exposed over the weekend, Williamson accused Morton of seeking to "punish" MPs out of favour with then-premier Liz Truss by excluding them from the Queen's funeral, warning: "There is a price for everything."
Williamson, who was sacked as defence secretary in 2019, issued a statement denying the broad allegations in The Guardian's report but did not specifically deny using the language alleged.
"I strongly reject this allegation and have enjoyed good working relationships with the many brilliant officials I have worked with across government," he said. "No specific allegations have ever been brought to my attention."
The newspaper said the official complained to the MoD's head of human resources about the alleged incidents, but it was understood the Cabinet Office's propriety and ethics team has not received a complaint about Williamson's conduct towards officials.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "The Cabinet Office has not received notice of any formal complaints about Gavin Williamson's behaviour from his time at the Ministry of Defence or any other department."
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said it would be "utterly, utterly unacceptable" if Williamson told a senior civil servant to "slit your throat" and "jump out of the window".
Stride told Sky News: "If that is the case, that is utterly, utterly unacceptable, but at the moment it is in the realm of media speculation."
Stride said he served in the Whips' Office under Williamson, and saw him as someone with "this sort of aura or mystique around him".
"There was always this great aura of... do you remember Cronus, the spider, the tarantula etc? And the reality with Cronus is he was much touted but he never actually was released to bite anybody. So that was how I always saw Gavin - as somebody who had this sort of aura or mystique around him, but the reality was he just generally got on with his job."
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