|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 4, 2022 20:38:58 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/04/rishi-sunak-under-pressure-over-gavin-williamson-vile-messages-to-wendy-mortonGavin Williamson is facing a complaint that he sent “vile” and “threatening” messages to former chief whip Wendy Morton, raising questions over Rishi Sunak’s decision to reappoint the twice-sacked Tory. Morton is believed to have made a formal complaint to the Conservative party over claims of Williamson’s behaviour to her in the final days of Liz Truss’s government. A source told Tortoise Media that Morton had passed on “vile and threatening messages” she had received during the time she was chief whip, which she considered had a misogynistic undertone. No surprise whatsoever to me. He's been regarded as the Master of the Dark Arts for some time. He's been Campaign Manager for May, Johnson and Sunak. His methodology has always included threats and bullying, as well as suspected vote manipulation during the Leadership Contests.
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Nov 4, 2022 21:37:34 GMT 1
Don't beat about the bush, he's an overated little s**t who should be nowhere near government.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 9:38:33 GMT 1
If ever one person encapsulated the rotten state of affairs that is UK politics, it is Gavin Williamson. www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/05/williamson-sent-expletive-laden-messages-to-chief-whipGavin Williamson sent expletive-laden messages to chief whip. Angry at not being invited to the Queen’s funeral, minister sent string of abusive texts. Williamson, who attends cabinet after being handed a senior position by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is accused of sending abusive messages to Wendy Morton, who served as chief whip during Liz Truss’s premiership. He sent a series of messages complaining that he had not been invited to the Queen’s funeral. Jake Berry, until recently the Conservative party chairman, has now claimed that he told Sunak about the complaint made against Williamson before he was appointed to his current ministerial job. Sunak has previously stated that his government would be characterised by “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level”. According to the messages published by the Sunday Times, Williamson accused Morton of exploiting the Queen’s death for political purposes. He told her that it was “very poor and sends a very clear message” that members of the privy council, including him, who were not “favoured” by Truss, were being deliberately excluded. When Morton insisted it was “not the case” that political opponents were being excluded, Williamson replied that it looked “very s**t”. He added: “Also don’t forget I know how this works so don’t puss [sic] me about.” Williamson served as chief whip himself under Theresa May’s premiership. “It’s very clear how you are going to treat a number of us which is very stupid and you are showing **** all interest in pulling things together,” the messages read. “Don’t bother asking anything from me.” Another read: “Also this shows exactly how you have rigged it is is (sic) disgusting you are using her death to punish people who are just supportive, absolutely disgusting. “Well let’s see how many more times you **** us all over. There is a price for everything.” Morton is said to have cited the messages from Williamson in an email to the party on the day before Sunak was elected leader. She is also said to have informed the cabinet office and accused Williamson of “bullying and intimidation”. |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 10:13:04 GMT 1
|
|
|
|
Post by ssshrew on Nov 6, 2022 10:29:43 GMT 1
Let’s face it everything in our political scene stinks at the moment.
We are at an extremely low point in our history and I honestly don’t think there is anyone of note to get us out of it. A truly despicable bunch.
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Nov 6, 2022 11:29:40 GMT 1
Why was he so keen to go to the funeral?
It's one thing to ask politely about tickets, but if you don't get one you don't abuse people. What an odious toad he must be.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 12:01:12 GMT 1
How convenient an excuse! Suggests a cover up by Sunak to me. And as the investigation into Williamson is an internal one by the Tory Party, I have no faith whatsoever in the outcome.
Rishi Sunak had not seen the “unacceptable” messages Sir Gavin Williamson sent to the former chief whip Wendy Morton before appointing him to the Cabinet, it has been claimed.
But the Prime Minister continues to back Sir Gavin despite learning of the contents of the “threatening” texts he sent to his colleague.
This week it emerged that Sir Gavin faces an investigation into his behaviour towards Ms Morton, after sending her a series of expletive-laden messages expressing his anger at not having been invited to the Queen’s funeral.
On Sunday Oliver Dowden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, confirmed that Mr Sunak was aware that Sir Gavin was the subject of a complaint for allegedly bullying a colleague when he brought him back into the Government.
However, Mr Dowden insisted that the Prime Minister had not seen the detail of the messages until they were disclosed by the Sunday Times on Saturday night.
Daily Telegraph.
|
|
|
|
Post by stuttgartershrew on Nov 6, 2022 12:06:45 GMT 1
There is a price for everything? That's a threat isn't it, clearly. Its pretty sinister. Heat of the moment, just expressing his frustration...I very much doubt anyone here get away with using such language towards a colleague. They do really seem to be in a world of their own.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2022 12:12:28 GMT 1
Slimy piece of s**t. And completely incompetent too, as his previous cabinet roles have proved. Not exactly a good combination to be both an awful bloke, and terrible at your job. Shouldn’t be anywhere near power or influence.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 12:32:18 GMT 1
Slimy piece of s**t. And completely incompetent too, as his previous cabinet roles have proved. Not exactly a good combination to be both an awful bloke, and terrible at your job. Shouldn’t be anywhere near power or influence. But the fact he is where he is doesn't show up May, Johnson or Sunak in a very good light. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that he was involved in vote rigging on their behalf. All 3 used Williamson as their campaign manager, and all 3 rewarded him with a Cabinet position after they won their leadership contests. Johnson even awarded him a knighthood as well! |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 12:37:28 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/06/oliver-dowden-defends-gavin-williamson-texts-as-heat-of-the-momentThe cabinet minister Oliver Dowden has defended expletive-laden texts sent by Gavin Williamson as “in the heat of the moment” after the former chief whip Wendy Morton submitted a bullying complaint against him. The messages from Williamson, first reported by Tortoise, were sent over the course of several weeks. They include angry remonstrations about not being invited to the Queen’s funeral and warnings that “there is a price for everything” 'In the heat of the moment'. What an insult to the intelligence of the electorate!
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Nov 6, 2022 12:53:14 GMT 1
Go on Sunak, have the guts to stand up to bullies. Williamson didn't get you in, the implosion of Liz Truss got you the leadership.
|
|
|
|
Post by ssshrew on Nov 6, 2022 14:33:06 GMT 1
I’ve read that Sunak was aware there was a problem but not the details. Anyone in their right mind would have investigated fully before making such a high profile appointment surely!?
It looks like we have another weakling to lead us.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 15:17:36 GMT 1
I’ve read that Sunak was aware there was a problem but not the details. Anyone in their right mind would have investigated fully before making such a high profile appointment surely!? It looks like we have another weakling to lead us. Not if Williamson has something on him. As an ex Chief Whip, he has almost certainly had access to the files on all the Tory M.Ps. We don't know what dark arts Williamson employed to ease Mordaunt out of the race, leaving what he thought to be the useless Truss to be pitted against his man Sunak in the Membership vote. He'd done much the same thing when campaigning for Johnson to make sure that Gove was removed, leaving Johnson against the useless Hunt to be voted on by the Membership. |
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 15:20:37 GMT 1
I’ve read that Sunak was aware there was a problem but not the details. Anyone in their right mind would have investigated fully before making such a high profile appointment surely!? It looks like we have another weakling to lead us. Yep. A cynical careerist. |
|
|
|
Post by ssshrew on Nov 6, 2022 15:41:09 GMT 1
I’ve read that Sunak was aware there was a problem but not the details. Anyone in their right mind would have investigated fully before making such a high profile appointment surely!? It looks like we have another weakling to lead us. Not if Williamson has something on him. As an ex Chief Whip, he has almost certainly had access to the files on all the Tory M.Ps. We don't know what dark arts Williamson employed to ease Mordaunt out of the race, leaving what he thought to be the useless Truss to be pitted against his man Sunak in the Membership vote. He'd done much the same thing when campaigning for Johnson to make sure that Gove was removed, leaving Johnson against the useless Hunt to be voted on by the Membership. A strong person wouldn’t care two hoots about Williamson. I couldn’t see Churchill or Thatcher kowtowing to such a person and if he does have something on Sunak then we don’t want him as PM anyway. |
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Nov 6, 2022 16:06:15 GMT 1
If the leadership don't stand up to Williamson then all they do is encourage others to resort to foul, underhand tactics - not acting normalises this poisenous culture. Sunak is pretty watertight if there is anything against him since there won't be any stomach for yet another leadership election and to have any chance at the next General Election they have to try to make Sunak look good.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 6, 2022 16:33:49 GMT 1
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Nov 6, 2022 17:02:16 GMT 1
Williamson totally out of order no matter what gender/race/sexual orientation the recipient.
Sorry Nadine. but slightly off target as usual.
Sunak needs to give Williamson the heave-ho while he's in Cairo (well, 233 miles away at Sharm el-Sheikh). No COP out!
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 7, 2022 11:08:20 GMT 1
A minister has claimed that Sir Gavin Williamson raised details about her private life during a conversation in an attempt to silence her while she was on the back benches.
The Tory MP, who told the Conservative Party at the weekend that she was willing to discuss the matter, said that Williamson had called her into his office when he was chief whip in 2016.
At the time she was campaigning on an issue that was causing the government difficulty. During the meeting Williamson is said to have raised a sensitive issue about her private life, which she interpreted as a tacit threat.
Allies of Williamson denied that he had been trying to silence the MP and said that he had raised the issue in a “pastoral capacity”.
The minister contacted the party after it emerged that Williamson sent expletive-laden texts to Wendy Morton when she was the chief whip. Another female Tory MP has also provided evidence to the party about a recent encounter with Williamson.
The Times.
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Nov 7, 2022 11:24:38 GMT 1
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 7, 2022 12:13:07 GMT 1
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11398129/Rishi-Sunak-stands-Gavin-Williamson-amid-claims-threatened-MP-private-life.htmlWhy did Rishi promote Williamson – a former fireplace salesman who is a poor Commons performer and not noted for his intellectual prowess? For one reason: Williamson, who studied social sciences at Bradford University, is in fact a shrewd political operator. As chief whip under Theresa May, he was known as the 'baby-faced assassin' for his combination of guile, charm and bullying to enforce his will. The presence of his pet tarantula Cronus (named after the king of the Titans who came to power by castrating his father) in a glass box on his desk certainly added to his air of menace. Just as he had done with May and Boris Johnson, Williamson cunningly stuck like a limpet to Sunak in the Tory party's summer leadership contest against Liz Truss. Former chief whips know where the political bodies are buried, the pressure points to press, and the inducements to offer to swing voters – and Sunak had significantly more MPs backing him than Truss. Williamson made sure he took the credit. 'He's got the largest brass neck in Parliament. He's absolutely shameless at smarming up to the candidate he thinks will win,' said one Tory MP. 'Trouble is, he is good at [building support] and whether it was Theresa, Boris or Rishi, they all owed him. 'By the way, the WhatsApp messages to Wendy Morton were nothing compared to the abuse and threats he sent us when he was chief whip. But he thinks he's still the chief, hence the sense of entitlement.' This sense of power and self-importance explains why Williamson thought he could bully Morton, who had been chief whip for only days, while he had done the job for 18 months. He did it so well that May promoted him to defence secretary in November 2017. However, after he took the post, it became rapidly clear he was out of his depth. It earned him the nickname Private Pike after the simpering weakling in the Second World War sitcom Dad's Army. He lived up to the moniker in 2018, by saying Russia 'should go away' and 'shut up' at the height of the Salisbury poisoning. Military boffins must have collectively breathed a sigh of relief when May sacked him in May 2019 for leaking information from a top-secret meeting of the National Security Council, where ministers had discussed the possible security threat from Chinese telecoms firm Huawei. His frontline career should have sunk but he was brought back as education secretary. Here, too, he was a disaster. He was criticised over school closures during the Covid pandemic and the shambles over an algorithm that standardised students' GCSE and A-level results. Johnson sacked him and when he was knighted in March, many Tory MPs told me it was a reward for remaining loyal. 'It will do nothing to enhance the public's view of our discredited honours system,' said one. After being given yet another chance by Sunak, it's notable that Williamson does not have a department to run. 'His job is to be Sunak's eyes and ears in the ministerial corridors and to spot potential flash points,' said a Whitehall source.
|
|
|
|
Post by ssshrew on Nov 7, 2022 17:06:58 GMT 1
I would ask what sort of people are on his local selection committee that would want someone like him representing them.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 7, 2022 19:08:25 GMT 1
The Conservative Party has not confirmed if it will launch a formal investigation into Sir Gavin, two weeks after Ms Morton made her complaint.
Neither MP has been informed of an inquiry, as would be expected under the party process.
Under that process, evidence is examined before a decision is made on whether a formal investigation should take place.
BBC News.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 7, 2022 22:32:32 GMT 1
More on that nice Mr Williamson. www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/07/senior-civil-servant-claims-gavin-williamson-told-them-slit-your-throatA senior civil servant claims Gavin Williamson told them to “slit your throat” in what they felt was a sustained campaign of bullying while he was defence secretary. The Ministry of Defence official told the Guardian Williamson made the extraordinary remarks in front of other civil servants in a meeting, and on a separate occasion told them to “jump out of the window”. The Whitehall aide, who worked closely with the cabinet minister, claimed Williamson “deliberately demeaned and intimidated” them on a regular basis. They reported the behaviour unofficially to the MoD’s head of human resources and took contemporaneous notes of the alleged incidents, but decided against making a formal complaint against the cabinet minister at that time. Williamson, who was defence secretary from November 2017 until May 2019 when he was sacked after a leak from the national security council, was said to have “shouted and raged”. The senior civil servant, who later left government, said the abuse was so bad that a senior military aide working in the department had later apologised for not calling it out. Williamson denied that he bullied the civil servant and said he had good working relationships with his officials. However, the Guardian understands that he is not denying that he used those specific words. |
|
|
|
Post by Valerioch on Nov 7, 2022 23:19:40 GMT 1
|
|
|
|
Post by martinshrew on Nov 8, 2022 9:39:58 GMT 1
Be a very interesting election when it comes, I think it'll be unprecedented.
I'll certainly stay up and watch the votes come in.
|
|
|
|
Post by northwestman on Nov 8, 2022 19:40:32 GMT 1
Anne Milton, the former deputy chief whip who worked closely with Sir Gavin Williamson when he was chief whip, has claimed he used “leverage” and threats to control MPs and instil a culture of fear in Westminster.
Milton told Channel 4 News of an alleged incident, when she says that the whips’ office gave some financial assistance to an MP: “I do remember him asking me to give the MP in question the cheque. And he waved it under my nose and said, ‘Make sure when you give him this cheque, he knows I now own him.’”
Milton said: “I don’t think it was a joke. It was the seriousness with which he said it. And I think that the bottom line is, if instances accord with your overall experience with somebody, then you believe them.”
She added that she gave the MP the cheque but didn’t pass on Williamson’s message.
Milton alleges Williamson behaved in an “unethical and immoral” and “shocking” manner during his time as Chief Whip between July 2016 and November 2017.
She also accused Williamson of using MPs’ mental and physical health problems as “leverage”.
Milton describes Williamson’s behaviour while chief whip as “threatening” and “intimidating”.
She added: “It’s an image he cultivates. I think he feels that he’s Francis Urquhart from House of Cards.”
|
|
|
|
Post by staffordshrew on Nov 8, 2022 20:00:18 GMT 1
My bet: Williamson will be out as soon as Sunak gets back, would look like Sunak "means business". Though if he felt more about the Conservative party than himself he would resign.
He'll be free to moan about Boris not giving him a peerage then.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dancin on Nov 8, 2022 21:22:49 GMT 1
Resigned, another one found guilty before due process
|
|
