Education secretary defends Sunak’s ‘fabulous’ judgement

Jump to contentSign up to our newslettersSubscribeNewsSportsVoicesCultureLifestyleTravelPremiumCloseSunak under pressure over Gavin Williamson and Suella Braverman cabinet appointmentsRishi Sunak has ‘fabulous’ judgement despite appointing twice sacked Sir Gavin Williamson to his government, a cabinet minister has insisted.Sir Gavin, minister without portfolio, resigned on Tuesday night amid a series of bullying allegations, which he denies.Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said on Wednesday morning that the PM did not know “any specific allegations”  against Sir Gavin as she defend his decision to make him a minister.He did, however, know that a complaint had been lodged against Sir Gavin.Ms Keegan insisted Mr Sunak possesses the “highest degree of integrity and judgment”. “I’ve worked with him for many years. He has integrity, he has fabulous judgment,” she told the BBC.Speaking ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Keegan insisted Mr Sunak knew only about a “disagreement” between Sir Gavin and Ms Morton when handing him a role in the Cabinet Office.1667989827Gavin Williamson was under ‘immense pressure’ during his time as chief whip but managed to ‘bring people together’, one of his former special advisers has said.Angus Walker was speaking after Sir Gavin resigned from the government amid mounting claims of bullying against him, which he denies.Mr Walker described the affair as ‘deeply unpleasant’ but defended his old boss, who he described as an ‘effective operator’.Sir Gavin served as chief whip from 2016-2017 under ex-PM Theresa May during the Brexit era. He was instrumental in May’s leadership campaign to replace David Cameron.The South Staffordshire MP was later sacked by Ms May after she accused him of leaking details of a National Security Council meeting, which he denied.Sir Gavin would go on to play key roles in the leadership campaigns of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the current PM.Matt Mathers9 November 2022 10:301667988676A sixth local authority is taking legal action to stop the government using a hotel to house asylum seekers.North Northamptonshire Council wants to prevent migrants being accommodated at the Royal Hotel in Kettering.The authority applied to the High Court for an emergency injunction and is considering its next steps after this was dismissed.Council leader Jason Smithers said: “We do not feel that the Royal Hotel in Kettering is the appropriate place to accommodate asylum seekers for a number of reasons.”We do not feel the proposals have been properly considered to ensure the best possible welfare can be provided to asylum seekers and the local communities in which they are housed.”We are now considering our options in light of the injunction’s dismissal by the High Court.”Matt Mathers9 November 2022 10:111667987688Gillian Keegan said the level of school funding would be ‘irrelevant’ if the government failed to get a grip on soaring prices, arguing: ‘Everybody is worried about inflation.’But the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to impose further cuts on frontline departments, on 17 November, as he seeks to find up to £35bn of spending cuts in what has been dubbed ‘austerity mark two’.Read the full story from Deputy political editor Rob Merrick here: Size of budgets ‘irrelevant’ without firm grip on soaring prices, Gillian Keegan argues Holly Bancroft9 November 2022 09:541667986829There will be a ‘landslide’ vote across the country for Matt Hancock to eat crocodile anus on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, a Labour MP has joked.Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, criticised Mr Hancock’s decision to enter the jungle while still parliament remains sitting.He said it ‘demeans’ politics. Mr Hancock, the former health secretary who represents West Suffolk, joins the reality TV show tonight. He says he’s doing so to promote some of his campaigns, such as dyslexia awareness.Matt Mathers9 November 2022 09:401667986308Matt Hancock says he ‘does not expect to serve in Government again’ after taking part in I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!The former health secretary and West Suffolk MP said he had received a lot of support for his decision to appear on the ITV reality show, and said it would be a good way to engage with a younger audience.He reiterated that he could be reached at any point to deal with ‘urgent constituency matters’ despite being over 10,000 miles away in the Australian jungle.Read the full story here: The former health secretary claims he has received a lot of support over his appearance on the programme despite widespread criticism Holly Bancroft9 November 2022 09:311667985828Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has said the threshold for free school meals is ‘always kept under review’ but that no spending decisions will be made before the November 17 Budget.She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Free school meals has been something that I was looking at recently, and actually it’s gone up by 300,000 in just the last couple of years.’So it’s actually the largest cohort of children who now receive free school meals – about 1.9 million, more than a third of children.’When it was put to the Cabinet minister that this means there are more people falling into poverty, she noted that children stay on free school meals for a number of years even if their circumstances change.Asked if the low threshold for eligibility will be changed, Ms Keegan said: ‘These things are always kept under review.”You have to wait for the Autumn Budget for any of the answers on funding,’ she added.Sam Rkaina9 November 2022 09:231667984868Education secretary Gillian Keegan has said Sir Gavin Williamson did ‘the right thing’ by resigning after bullying claims.Asked if Rishi Sunak should have sacked him, she told Sky News: ‘I think Gavin did the right thing by resigning.’It’s had the same impact, you know, he’s now going to be on the back benches and he’s going to be fighting the allegations, as he says, which he disputes.’She added that Sir Gavin had ‘apologised’ for the ‘unacceptable’ expletive-laden messages sent to a colleague.She said Sir Gavin had ‘never threatened her’.Ms Keegan told Sky News: ‘I’ve worked with him several times and I haven’t seen any of that.’He’s never threatened me, or he’s only only ever been supportive actually, personally, to me.’She added: ‘I barely have meetings with the chief whip, which is probably a good thing.’I know that there are some quite robust conversations.’Holly Bancroft9 November 2022 09:071667983608Rishi Sunak’s appointment of Sir Gavin Williamson was ‘weak’ and ‘unacceptable’, the shadow foreign secretary has said.David Lammy told 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.’Holly Bancroft9 November 2022 08:461667982108Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering expanding the top rate of income tax. The prime minister is in discussions to raise the 45 per cent top rate, or lowering the £150,000 annual income threshold, The Telegraph has reported. Former prime minister Liz Truss scrapped the 45 per cent rate in her short time as in the top job. Raising the rate of income tax would also break a promise made in the Conservative 2019 manifesto, something Mr Sunak has promised to stand by. Holly Bancroft9 November 2022 08:211667980428Conservative MP Matt Hancock has said that the public will see ‘the real me’ when he appears in reality show I’m a celebrity get me out of here. Speaking in a video montage shown to viewers last night, Mr Hancock said that he would show people ‘the human side of the guy behind the podium’. He will compete in the next bushtucker trial with the other new entrant to the camp, comedian Seann Walsh. Holly Bancroft9 November 2022 07:53Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inRegistration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inGavin WilliamsonRishi SunakSuella BravermanLiz TrussHouse of CommonsFormer Conservative party cabinet minister, Gavin Williamson attends the opening day of the annual Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, central England, on 2 October 2022AFP via Getty ImagesPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in