Sunak ally admits PM knew of Williamson bullying claims

CloseOliver Dowden admits Sunak is aware of Gavin Williamson bullying complaintAn ally of Rishi Sunak has admitted that the prime minister was informed about the bullying allegations against twice-sacked Gavin Williamson before he gave him a position in his cabinet. On Sky News, Oliver Dowden was asked five times whether the prime minister – as Jake Berry, a former party chair, has claimed – was told about the complaint lodged by Wendy Morton, the former chief whip.He ducked the question, saying Mr Sunak was not aware of the expletive texts, before eventually acknowledging Mr Berry had ‘highlighted’ her protest to the prime minister, thereby provoking a fresh crisis for the Conservative government. Brandon Lewis, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, said bullying should never be seen as ‘an inevitable part of our political life’, after Mr Dowden attempted to brush off Sir Gavin’s expletive-laden texts to the former Tory chief whip messages as a ‘heat of the moment’ mistake.In the texts, revealed by The Sunday Times, Sir Gavin told Ms Morton ‘you f*** us all over’ in anger at being excluded from the Queen’s funeral, adding: ‘There is a price for everything.’1667793471Welcome to The Independent’s blog on UK politics for Monday, 07 November 2022 where we provide the latest on everything that’s buzzing in Westminster. Namita Singh7 November 2022 03:57