A senior minister has been accused of sending threatening and abusive messages to a colleague after he failed to receive an invitation to Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral.
Sir Gavin Williamson, minister for the Cabinet Office, is being investigated over the text messages which were sent to Wendy Morton who served as Chief Whip under Liz Truss.
Messages published in The Times following an investigation by Tortoise appear to show Sir Gavin telling the Chief Whip that “there is a price for everything”.
Mrs Morton is understood to have made a formal complaint, with The Times reporting that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak knew of the allegations before he went on to appoint him to a ministerial position.
The text messages show that Sir Gavin, who once himself served as Chief Whip, was told that places to attend the funeral were “extremely limited.”
Sir Gavin replied, saying: “Well let’s see how many more times you f*** us over. There is a price for everything.”
Responding to the allegations on Friday evening, Sir Gavin said: “I of course regret getting frustrated about the way colleagues and I felt we were being treated. I’m happy to speak with Wendy, and I hope to work positively with her in the future as I have in the past.”
Prior to being appointed as a minister by Rishi Sunak, Sir Gavin was sacked from government on two occasions.
Theresa May forced him to step down as Defence Secretary following national security concerns surrounding a leak, and Boris Johnson sacked him as Education Secretary following controversy over examination results.
