Sir Gavin Williamson is facing calls for him to be stripped of his knighthood if he is found guilty of bullying in the wake of his dramatic resignation from the government.
Rishi Sunak today conceded he “regrets” having appointed his close political ally to his cabinet, after he was forced to stand down after just two weeks as minister without portfolio.
But he came under assault from Sir Keir Starmer for failing to sack Williamson when reports about his allegedly “unethical and immoral” behaviour emerged, with the Labour leader branding the prime minister “too weak” to stand up to bullies.
“It is a pattern with this prime minister: too weak to sack the security threat sitting around the cabinet table; too weak to take part in a leadership contest after he lost the first one; and too weak to stand up for working people,” Sir Keir told the House of Commons.
Referring to the tarantula which Williamson kept in his office as chief whip, the Labour leader asked: “If he cannot even stand up to a cartoon bully with a pet spider… what chance has he got of running the country?”
Mr Sunak has been under fire for appointing Sir Gavin – seen in Tory ranks as a master of the dark arts of political scheming – when he knew of a bullying complaint against the twice-sacked minister.
He resisted calls for Williamson’s dismissal until further allegations forced his resignation, and wrongly claimed he faced an “independent” investigation.
And responding to Starmer’s barbs, the prime minister took no responsibility for having appointed Sir Gavin – only regret that he had been forced to leave his government.
“Unequivocally the behaviour complained of was unacceptable and it’s absolutely right that the right honourable gentleman has resigned,” Mr Sunak told MPs at prime minister’s questions in the Commons.
“For the record I did not know about any of the specific concerns relating to his conduct as secretary of state or chief whip that date back some years.”
Mr Sunak added: “I obviously regret appointing someone who has had to resign in the circumstances.”
Sir Keir retorted that Williamson was “a pathetic bully (who) would never get away with it if people like the prime minister didn’t hand him power”.
The former minister was like “a sad middle manager getting off on intimidating those beneath him”, while Mr Sunak was “the boss who is so weak, so worried the bullies will turn on him, that he hides behind them”, said Starmer.
“What message does he think it sends when, rather than take on the bullies, he lines up alongside them and thanks them for their loyalty?”
Liberal Democrats wrote to the committee which advises on the removal of honours, urging it to consider stripping the former minister of his title if he is found guilty of bullying.
If the Forfeitures Committee fails to act in the case of a finding against Sir Gavin, “the whole honours system risks being brought into disrepute”, warned Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain.
Complaints against him are “extremely serious and suggest a bullying culture at the very top of the Conservative Party,” said Ms Chamberlain.
“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.”
Mr Sunak’s press secretary later said that it was Sir Gavin who requested the face-to-face meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday evening at which he offered his resignation.
She said that the PM was aware at the time he appointed Williamson of a “disagreement” with former chief whip Wendy Morton, but insisted he did not know the detail of the expletive-laden text messages which are now the subject of a bullying inquiry.
And she told reporters that he did not know about further allegations dating back to his time as chief whip and defence secretary until Tuesday when they were made public in the media.
Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievances Service is considering complaints from Ms Morton and from a former Ministry of Defence civil servant who Williamson allegedly told to “slit your throat” and “jump out of the window”.
Separately, Williamson’s former deputy in the whips’ office Anne Milton, accused him of using “unethical and immoral” methods while he was in charge of party discipline as chief whip.
Sir Gavin’s resignation led to fresh questions over Mr Sunak’s political judgment, following his reappointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary just days after she was forced out for breaching the ministerial code.
But education secretary Gillian Keegan insisted that the prime minister has “fabulous judgment”.
And Mr Sunak himself - who told Williamson he was accepting his resignation “with great sadness” - repeated his claim to be running an adminstration of “integrity, professionalism and accountability”.
