Gavin Williamson was right to resign, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan says

Published

3 years ago

November 9, 2022

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Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has said Sir Gavin Williamson was right to resign from the cabinet over bullying claims.

Sir Gavin’s departure on Tuesday evening came shortly after an ex-civil servant – who claimed the MP told them to “slit your throat” – made a formal complaint.

A Number 10 source told Sky News it was Sir Gavin’s decision to resign following further allegations being laid at his door.

He is understood to have spoken to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the early evening to offer his resignation.

Sunak to face grilling over Williamson appointment – Politics latest

In his resignation letter, the former cabinet minister vowed to clear his name of wrongdoing – and said he “refutes the characterisation of these claims”.

“I recognise these are becoming a distraction for the good work this government is doing,” Sir Gavin wrote to Mr Sunak.

Sir Gavin – who had already been sacked by Theresa May and Boris Johnson – has also been accused of sending expletive-laden messages to former chief whip Wendy Morton where he complained about being refused an invitation to the Queen’s funeral.

He was also the subject of claims he bullied a former official at the Ministry of Defence and engaged in “unethical and immoral” behaviour while he was chief whip.

Probed on whether Sir Gavin was right to resign, Ms Keegan told Sky News: “Yes, I think it is.

“He said it was a distraction and it is a distraction because we’ve got really sort of serious things that we need to navigate – navigating these economic times is going to be quite tricky.”

She added: “I think Gavin did the right thing by resigning.”

Discussing the allegations Sir Gavin is facing, Ms Keegan noted that “it is inappropriate to use anybody’s mental health against them”.

She added that Sir Gavin had “apologised” for the “unacceptable” messages sent to a colleague.

Late last night, Sir Gavin said he would not be taking severance pay, tweeting: “This is taxpayers’ money and it should go instead toward the government’s priorities like reducing the NHS’s waiting lists.”

Mr Sunak will face PMQs this afternoon, hours after his ally Sir Gavin quit over the bullying claims.

Accepting the resignation “with great sadness”, Mr Sunak told Sir Gavin: “I would like to thank you for your personal support and loyalty.”

The prime minister’s judgement is being questioned after suggestions he appointed Sir Gavin to a senior role despite being aware of an investigation related to his behaviour.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said yesterday’s events show “yet another Tory government has descended into chaos”.

“This is yet another example of Rishi Sunak’s poor judgement and weak leadership. It is clear that he is trapped by the grubby backroom deals he made to dodge a vote, and is incapable of putting country before party,” she said.

While Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This should be the third and final time Gavin Williamson is forced out of the cabinet.”

She continued: “Rishi Sunak has serious questions to answer about why he appointed Gavin Williamson, then stood by him instead of sacking him. His promise to lead a government of integrity has now been left in tatters.”

Senior Tory MPs have alleged to Sky News that Sir Gavin “has been bullying for most of his career” and that his behaviour has “always been well known”.

One senior Tory MP, who was in cabinet with Sir Gavin, told Sky News: “He’s a bully no two ways about it, it’s well known, it’s always been well known.

“His only talent is bullying. It was a mistake for Rishi to give him a job.”

The senior MP also claimed Sir Gavin, who was chief whip under Mrs May “modelled his whipping style” on US drama House of Cards.

Another senior Tory MP was even more disparaging of Sir Gavin, calling him “an absolute little sh***” who “should never have been allowed in government”.

The MP called his appointment to Mr Sunak’s cabinet “beyond the pale” adding: “I’d be surprised if the Cabinet Office didn’t warn the PM there would be a dim view taken if he was given a job.

“I have no idea on earth why anyone would employ him, he’s been bullying for most of his career.

“The spider in the box, the idea he’s got something over somebody… it astonished us all when he got into cabinet.”

The MP went on: “Thoroughly incompetent, thoroughly pathetic. He’s a nasty piece of work, who adds no value whatsoever. Rishi thinks he owes him, he doesn’t. If Gavin Williamson is the answer I don’t know what the hell the question is.”

Sky News has approached Sir Gavin for comment.

Sir Gavin’s third stint in the cabinet was by far his shortest, having made his return to the government only two weeks ago, when Mr Sunak appointed him as a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office.

World

‘The capital is under attack’: Russian drones launched over Kyiv after Moscow targeted

Published

13 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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'The capital is under attack': Russian drones launched over Kyiv after Moscow targeted

Russia has launched a “massive” drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital overnight, after Moscow itself was targeted.

Amid flailing peace talks, the Kremlin’s nightly attacks on Ukraine continued.

Ukraine war – follow the latest updates

A large-scale Russian attack through the night into Sunday injured at least 11 in Kyiv and killed three people in towns surrounding the capital.

There were attacks elsewhere as well, including drone strikes in Mykolaiv, where a residential building was hit.

‘Massive’ attack

In Kyiv, the city’s administration warned “the night will be difficult”, as people were urged to remain in shelters.

The city’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described it as a “massive” attack.

He said: “Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. The capital is under attack by enemy UAVs. Do not neglect your safety! Stay in shelters!”

It came after at least 15 people were injured in attacks the night prior.

Russia claimed it also faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday, and that it intercepted and destroyed around 100 of them near Moscow and across Russia’s central and southern regions.

Russia ‘dragging out the war’

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued a prisoner exchange, marking a rare moment of cooperation in the war.

Amid the most recent attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his calls for sanctions on Russia.

Russia “fills each day with horror and murder” and is “simply dragging out the war”, he said.

“All of this demands a response – a strong response from the United States, from Europe, and from everyone in the world who wants this war to end,” Mr Zelenskyy added.

Every day “gives new grounds for sanctions against Russia”, he said, and each day without pressure proves the “war will continue”.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is ready for “any form of diplomacy that delivers real results”.

World

Nine of Gazan doctor’s 10 children killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

Published

1 day ago

May 24, 2025

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Nine of Gazan doctor's 10 children killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.

Warning: This article contains details of child deaths

Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.

Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.

Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.

In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.

The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.

“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”

British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack

Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.

Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.

The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.

Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.

‘No political or military connections’

Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.

“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”

He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”

Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.

Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

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UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes

Published

2 days ago

May 24, 2025

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UN's Antonio Guterres condemns 'teaspoon' of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes

The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.

He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.

Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.

The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.

Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.

Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.

Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.

The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.

The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.

The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.

But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.

Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.

The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.