Gavin Williamson: Mel Stride addresses bullying accusations

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Sir Gavin Williamson has been warned he is “sackable” as the Cabinet Office minister faces pressure over bullying allegations. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride this morning insisted nobody is “unsackable”.

Mr Stride told Sky News: “I don’t think anybody is unsackable.

“As we’ve seen in the recent past even Prime Ministers are not unsackable.

“So I think that answer to that is we are all sackable at some point depending on the circumstances.”

However, Mr Stride defended Sir Gavin as having “particular talents”.

He told Times Radio: “I think Gavin is somebody who, as I say, has particular talents and a particular understanding of the parliamentary party.

“And I can see, therefore, why, given that it’s going to be very important that we have a cohesive party going forward, he has a seat at the Cabinet table.”

It comes as Rishi Sunak is under fire for bringing his ally Sir Gavin back into Government when he knew he was under investigation for allegedly bullying former chief whip Wendy Morton.

In a series of expletive-laden texts in September, which emerged over the weekend, Sir Gavin – who was a backbencher at the time – accused the then chief whip of seeking to “punish” MPs out of favour with then-premier Liz Truss by excluding them from the late Queen’s funeral.

In a message on September 13, he warned: “There is a price for everything.”

Sir Gavin has since expressed regret for the foul-mouthed exchange.

And last night it was alleged that he told a senior civil servant to “slit your throat” in what they claimed was a bullying campaign while he was Defence Secretary.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) official told the Guardian that Sir Gavin made the remarks in front of colleagues in a meeting.

The official also claimed that on another occasion Sir Gavin 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 are bound to add to calls for Sir Gavin’s sacking.

Sir Gavin, a former chief whip, was brought back into the Cabinet when Mr Sunak entered No 10 last month.

But his appointment sparked controversy as he is viewed with suspicion in Westminster because of his reputation as a plotter.

He was previously sacked by Theresa May as defence secretary for leaking details of a National Security Council meeting and then by Mr Johnson as education secretary over the Covid A-levels debacle.

Asked on Monday if Mr Sunak had full confidence in the Cabinet Office minister, his official spokesman said: “Yes.”

Pressed on why the PM gave Sir Gavin the job, the spokesman added: “Obviously he thinks he has an important contribution to make to Government.”

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