After a former chief whip was not given seats to the late Queen’s funeral, Sir Gavin Williamson publicly apologized for bullying him.
The Parliamentary Watchdog has demanded an apology from the former Tory Cabinet minister for his “offensive and intimidating” treatment of Wendy Morton.
During his appearance in the House of Commons, he apologized “fully and unreservedly” for sending a slew of profanity-laced texts to Ms. Morton last year, which ultimately led to his resignation as Cabinet Office minister only days into Rishi Sunak’s leadership.
Sir Gavin addressed the House of Representatives, saying, “I wish to make a personal statement regarding an incident that occurred between me and the then-chief whip, the Member for Aldridge Brownhills (Ms Morton) on September 13 and 14, 2022.
In the aftermath of this argument, I expressed regret for my use of foul language and said so.
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A complaint was filed due to my actions, and while the Commissioner for Parliamentary Standards first ruled against the complainant, the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) ultimately ruled in their favor.
I acknowledge that my actions were inappropriate and a violation of the zero-tolerance policy against bullying and harassment. I want to apologize again to the complainant for the breach.
“I apologize to them once more at this time and I apologize to the House completely and without qualification. I promise to make every effort to prevent a repeat of this.
The IEP found Sir Gavin’s actions to be “an abuse of power, finding that it had gone beyond vigorous complaint or political disagreement to a threat to leverage his power and authority as a former chief whip to undermine Ms Morton personally.”
The IEP said it had “considered carefully” whether he should be suspended from the Commons, but had ultimately determined a “full and unreserved apology” was necessary.
After not receiving an invitation to the late Queen’s burial, which Sir Gavin blamed on his lack of support for then-prime minister Liz Truss in the previous leadership election, the paper claims he texted Ms. Morton.
Finally, he said, “Well, let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. Everything has its price, as the saying goes.
Sir Gavin, who had been disgracefully removed from the Cabinet twice before, resigned as minister without portfolio in November 2016 in the face of mounting allegations.
In addition to Ms. Morton’s accusation, which included Sir Gavin’s time as a backbench MP, he was accused of “unethical and immoral” behavior while serving as Tory chief whip, and he was also accused of bullying a former official at the Ministry of Defense.
To investigate allegations of misconduct by legislators, Ms. Morton filed a complaint with the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.
The IEP upheld Ms. Morton’s appeal despite the fact that Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg had exonerated Sir Gavin of the charge that his behavior constituted to bullying or harassment.
According to the IEP report, “in the clearest terms, he was going to make her position difficult and frustrate her role as the newly appointed chief whip,” all in retaliation for his belief that she had refused him and others entry to the Queen’s funeral because they were not supporters of the current prime minister, Truss.This was more than a disagreement on a political ideology. It was a personal threat delivered in the form of direct action.That’s how she must have felt, because she said so.
Despite being knighted after Boris Johnson’s nomination last year, Sir Gavin is a contentious figure in Westminster, where many Conservative MPs look him with distrust due to his reputation as a chronic planner.
After leaking information from a National Security Council meeting, British prime leader Theresa May fired him as defense secretary in 2019, and then Mr. Johnson fired him as education secretary over the Covid-19 A-levels scandal.
But Mr. Sunak’s judgment in bringing him to his Cabinet came under fire when Sir Gavin was forced to resign not long afterward, despite the fact that he was a crucial supporter of the prime minister.
Former Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi and ex-justice secretary Dominic Raab are just two of the ministers who resigned after receiving complaints about their behavior during Mr. Sunak’s time as prime minister.
In light of the watchdog’s findings, Ms. Morton said she was “just relieved” by the apologies extended to her.
It’s taken nearly a year, and I understand why; it’s a lengthy procedure that must be undertaken. She shared that it has been “a roller coaster at times,” as reported by Times Radio.
