The Cabinet Office minister was already facing an internal Conservative Party investigation into the series of threatening messages he allegedly sent to Ms Morton protesting that she had been barred from the Queen’s funeral. But now the Independent Complaints and Complaints System will also look into the allegations. Sir Gavin, a supporter at the time the messages were allegedly sent, accused Ms Morton of using the monarch’s death to “punish” senior MPs who were out of favor with Liz Truss’s government. Labor tries to force government to release Braverman safety advice – Politics latest The messages, which were first obtained by The Sunday Times, concluded with Sir Gavin saying: “Well, let’s see how many times they’re going to **** us all over the place. There’s a price for everything.” Former Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry claimed he told Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that Morton had made a formal complaint about Sir Gavin’s behavior the day before she joined Number 10. On Sunday, Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday that Mr Sunak was aware there was a “difficult relationship” between Sir Gavin and Ms Morton but was “not aware” of “specific allegations”. Yesterday, the Prime Minister told broadcasters it was “right” to hold an independent inquiry into allegations of bullying re-made by Sir Gavin “before they make any decisions going forward”. The prime minister’s official spokesman added that Mr. Sunak has complete confidence in him. The Guardian reported that Sir Gavin also allegedly told a senior civil servant to “cut your throat” while he was defense secretary. The latest accusation comes as Mr Sunak faces mounting pressure to replace Sir Gavin. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:26 Gavin Williamson and the spider ‘had aura’ A former MoD official told the Guardian that Sir Gavin also told them to “jump out of the window”, in what they felt was a sustained campaign of intimidation. According to the paper, the civil servant, who later left the government, said Sir Gavin “deliberately humiliates and intimidates them” on a regular basis. But in a statement, Sir Gavin said: “I categorically reject this allegation and have a good working relationship with the many brilliant officials I have worked with across government. “No specific allegations were ever brought to my attention.” Read more: Gavin Williamson ‘bullied most of his career’, senior Tory MPs claim Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Strid told Sky News earlier today that it would be “totally, totally unacceptable” if Sir Gavin made the alleged remarks. “If that’s the case, that’s totally, totally unacceptable, but right now it’s in the realm of media speculation,” he said. Mr Stride said he served in the Whips’ Office under Sir Gavin and saw him as someone with “that aura or mystery about him”. “There was always this wonderful aura…remember Cronus, the spider, the tarantula, etc.? And the reality with Cronus is that he was hyped up a lot, but he was never actually released to bite anyone,” she told Kay Burley. “That’s how I always saw Gavin – as someone who had this sort of aura or mystery around him, but the reality was that he generally just got on with his job.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:29 Williamson is feeling the heat from the allegations Mr Stride said he was “not going to speculate on anybody’s future”, but when asked if he thought Sir Gavin would still be a Cabinet minister by Christmas, he added: “I suspect the answer to that is Yes”. While the senior civil servant who made the complaints is said to have informally reported the incidents to the Foreign Office’s head of human resources, they have decided not to file a formal complaint. But they said a senior military aide working in the department later apologized to them for not flagging his behavior. A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The Cabinet Office has not been made aware of any formal complaints about Gavin Williamson’s conduct from his time at the Ministry of Defense or any other department.” Click to subscribe to Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts Speaking to reporters as he arrived at a cabinet meeting in Downing Street on Tuesday morning, Business Secretary Grant Shapps said Sir Gavin had apologized for sending abusive messages to a colleague. Asked if Sir Gavin was a bully, Mr Shapps said: “Not in my experience. He obviously shouldn’t have sent those (messages), he’s acknowledged it and apologized for it.” Speaking about the alleged “cut your throat” comments, he added: “I don’t think there’s been an official complaint, so let’s wait and see what they say about that.” Sir Gavin served as Defense Secretary from November 2017 to May 2019, but was sacked by then Prime Minister Theresa May amid controversy over a government leak. He was rehired by Boris Johnson as education secretary two months later, but was sacked again in September 2021 after much criticism over his handling of the pension during the COVID pandemic. Mr. Sunak brought him back into government two weeks ago to serve as a Cabinet minister, who also attends the cabinet.
