Rishi Sunak has been branded "weak" and his judgement questioned after Gavin Williamson quit Cabinet following a number of bullying allegations.
The Minister without Portfolio resigned from government after it emerged he sent expletive-laden messages to former chief whip Wendy Morton complaining about being refused an invitation to the Queen's funeral.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Sunak's appointment of Williamson, who lasted 14 days in post, was "unacceptable" and "weak".
He the BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: "I think this raises real questions about the Prime Minister's judgment. The behaviour that we've heard about in the last few days is repellent, it's odious and it's quite, quite unacceptable.
"The Prime Minister knew much of this, it was reported to him, why did he appoint Gavin Williamson to the Government in the first place? Why did it even take 10 days to understand what Gavin Williamson would be doing?
"He appointed him as some sort of enforcer, apparently, because this is the way he behaves. This is weak. It's unacceptable. We really should have an account of why he came back into Government."
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan defended Sunak's judgement and said Williamson "acted quickly" in resigning and predicted the matter "won't be discussed any further".
She told Times Radio: "I think Rishi has the highest degree of integrity and judgment. We saw it all over the summer, he was prepared to tell the hard truths. That's real leadership."
"I mean, the reality is you appoint people and, you know, the only thing you can do if things don't work out or things go wrong or things come to light afterwards is act quickly. Gavin's acted quickly, he's removed the distraction. I would expect after today that it won't be discussed any further."
Keegan added that it was "it's always sad when a colleague resigns".
She said:"I think it's always sad when a colleague resigns. It does have an impact on them personally, it has an impact on their family. So, you know, nobody takes glee out of these situations at all. But ... it happens quite a lot in politics actually."
Asked whether Sir Gavin's alleged remark to a former senior official to "slit your throat" had an impact on them, Keegan said: "Of course it did."
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