Britain’s new prime minister knew a colleague was under investigation for bullying when he brought him back into government.
Rishi Sunak was told about the complaint against Sir Gavin Williamson days before he appointed him to the cabinet, said former chairman of the Conservative Party, Sir Jake Berry.
Sir Gavin allegedly sent abusive text messages to the party’s former chief whip, Wendy Morton, complaining he and others had been excluded from Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral for political reasons.
In the messages, Sir Gavin started by saying: “There is a price for everything”. He said Ms Morton's conduct was “absolutely disgusting” and went on to use multiple expletives.
Sir Gavin is facing an investigation over the series of alleged abusive and threatening messages.
Mr Sunak promised to serve with “integrity and humility” when he succeeded Liz Truss in late October.
But this is the second complaint he has faced about a cabinet appointment in less than two weeks, after he brought Ms Braverman back into government six days after she was found to have breached the ministerial code, forcing her resignation under Ms Truss.
Sir Jake said he informed the prime minister and his incoming chief of staff the same day, the day before Mr Sunak entered No 10, that Ms Morton was submitting a complaint about the messages, The Times reported.
Oliver Dowden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who has been described as Mr Sunak’s “right-hand man”, has confirmed the prime minister was aware of the complaint when he appointed Sir Gavin a minister of state without portfolio.
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Dowden said: “It was not the case though that the prime minister saw the texts themselves.
“The complaint itself is ongoing and I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to prejudge that.”
He said it was not acceptable for Sir Gavin to have spoken to Ms Morton in that way, but the texts were sent “in the heat of the moment at a very difficult time”.
“Gavin accepts he shouldn’t have said these things and he regrets it,” Mr Dowden said. “We should all treat each other with respect and courtesy, and that was not the case there.”
In a separate interview on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Dowden said: “Of course the prime minister continues to have confidence in Gavin Williamson.”
Labour's shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband warned against a “cover-up” or a “whitewash” over allegations relating to Sir Gavin.
He told Sky News: “These are incredibly serious issues and I think it really calls into question Rishi Sunak's judgment and the way he made decisions about his cabinet.
“We already know about the whole Suella Braverman issue: being reappointed six days after she resigned.
“It was very noticeable … that Oliver Dowden couldn't deny that Rishi Sunak knew about those issues to do with potential bullying against Wendy Morton, the chief whip, by Gavin Williamson and yet he reappointed him.
“What it says is that Rishi Sunak was making decisions simply in his own narrow short-term interest as far as the Conservative Party leadership was concerned, not the national interest, and there needs to be an urgent independent investigation into exactly what happened. We can't have a cover-up, we can't have a whitewash here.
“What did Rishi Sunak know? When did he know it? What did Gavin Williamson do and what are the implications of that?”
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
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Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
The five pillars of Islam
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
