Gavin Williamson future in peril over ‘unethical and immoral’ behaviour

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Gavin Williamson’s political future is in increasing peril after his former deputy chief whip criticised his “unethical and immoral” behaviour while a senior civil servant who said he told them to “slit your throat” made a formal complaint.

Anne Milton, who was Williamson’s number two in the Conservative whips’ office, claimed that he used “leverage” and threats to control MPs and instil a culture of fear in Westminster.

In an extraordinary interview with Channel 4 News, the former MP accused Williamson of using MPs’ mental and physical health problems against them, collecting “salacious gossip” about their “sexual preferences” and on one occasion telling her to give an MP with financial problems a cheque and tell them: “I now own him.”

According to Milton, who stepped down as an MP in 2019, the former chief whip sent her an email in response to a female civil servant’s inquiry about why a minister had to change travel plans to attend a vote, saying: “Always tell them to fuck off and if they have the bollocks to come and see me. Fuck jumped up civil servants.”

The Guardian can also reveal that the former Ministry of Defence official who claims they were bullied by Williamson has now complained to parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, putting more pressure on Rishi Sunak over his decision to reappoint his ally.

In a statement, the complainant said they had an “incredibly difficult period” working for Williamson at the MoD and that the alleged bullying had taken “an extreme impact” on their mental health.

In a separate development, two further sources who spoke to the Guardian claimed that during his time as chief whip Williamson had been heard joking or boasting about the effect his tactics had on the mental health of those he worked with, with one saying it had “made people uncomfortable”.

The Cabinet Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Williamson, whose political future is now hanging in the balance, is now facing three separate inquiries into his behaviour, two with the ICGS and the other an internal Conservative party investigation. Two relate to the same incident involving the former chief whip Wendy Morton.

Downing Street said the prime minister believed that the bullying allegations against Williamson were serious, and was considering whether further action should be taken against him. It has not yet responded to the allegations in the Channel 4 interview.

The Guardian revealed on Monday that Williamson allegedly told a senior civil servant to “slit your throat” and “jump out of the window” in what they claimed was a bullying campaign while he was defence secretary.

Williamson has rejected the allegations that he bullied any staff, claiming to have had “good working relationships” with his “brilliant officials”, but has not denied using the specific words.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson signalled that Sunak might not wait for formal investigations to fully complete before deciding what, if any, action to take. Before the latest claims, he said that Sunak retained full confidence in the Cabinet Office minister and believed his denial.

However, in a statement the complainant said: “I have made the decision to formally report Gavin Williamson’s behaviour while at the Ministry of Defence to parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.

“This was an incredibly difficult period for me. Gavin Williamson’s words and actions had an extreme impact on my mental health. Government ministers have a code of conduct that they are required to follow. Any form of abuse is unacceptable.

“I have decided to come forward after feeling stronger given the passage of time and after seeing the nature of his messages to [former Conservative chief whip] Wendy Morton.”

The latest investigation comes after Morton said Williamson had sent her offensive WhatsApp messages because he was upset he had not been invited to the Queen’s funeral.

The prime minister’s spokesperson also denied that keeping Williamson in his job would amount to the prime minister giving carte blanche to ministers to tell their officials to slit their throats.

“The prime minister has been clear about the approach that he wants from ministers, and the high standards that they will be held to,” he said.

“I think the public would understand that, in order to achieve that, you need to follow the correct processes before setting out any further action.”

However, Sunak has still not appointed an independent ethics adviser to oversee complaints about ministers, almost five months after Lord Geidt quit following concerns over Boris Johnson’s role in the Partygate scandal.

Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union, said there was “no obvious route” for civil servants bullied by ministers to complain in the absence of an independent adviser on ministerial interests.

He pointed to evidence given by Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, to a parliamentary committee saying asking civil servants, even those in the propriety and ethics team, to investigate the conduct of ministers was “very difficult and to be avoided wherever possible”.