World

Timeline: How did Sir Gavin Williamson go from cabinet to kerb?

Published

2 years ago

November 9, 2022

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Sir Gavin Williamson’s third stint in the cabinet was by far his shortest.

He made his return to the government only two weeks ago, when Rishi Sunak appointed him as a Cabinet Office minister.

Once allegations that he had sent “abusive” text messages emerged, he was gone within 72 hours, returning to the backbenches for a third time in his parliamentary career.

Here’s how the former defence secretary and former education secretary also became a former Cabinet Office minister.

Saturday 5 November

Late in the evening, claims that Sir Gavin had sent expletive-laden texts to his fellow MP Wendy Morton when she was Liz Truss’s chief whip drop in an article on the Sunday Times website.

He had “lashed out” at his colleague in the messages, according to the report, claiming she had excluded him from attending the Queen’s funeral for political reasons and warning her “there is a price for everything”.

Damningly for Mr Sunak, it says Ms Morton had told the party the day before the prime minister took office that she wished to make a formal complaint.

Sir Jake Berry, who lost his job as Tory chairman in Mr Sunak’s reshuffle, claims in a statement he had also told the prime minister and his incoming chief of staff that Ms Morton was submitting a complaint that day.

Number 10 refuses to respond to the claims.

Sunday 6 November

As questions mount over how much Mr Sunak knew of the allegations, Oliver Dowden, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, is sent out by Downing Street in his defence on the traditional Sunday political programmes.

He tells Sky News’ Sophy Ridge that Mr Sunak knew there was a “difficult relationship” between Sir Gavin and Ms Morton, but “wasn’t aware” of “specific allegations” until Saturday evening.

Mr Dowden adds that Sir Gavin “regrets the language he used” and also suggests that a number of individuals had “a difficult relationship” with Ms Morton.

“These were sent in the heat of the moment expressing frustration,” he says. “It was a difficult time for the party. He now accepts that he shouldn’t have done it and he regrets doing so. Thankfully, we are in a better place now as a party.”

Mr Dowden insists Mr Sunak has full confidence in his minister.

That morning Labour calls for an “urgent independent investigation” into the appointment of Sir Gavin, with shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband warning against a “cover-up” over the allegations.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge, Mr Miliband says the matter “really calls into question Rishi Sunak’s judgement and the way he made decisions about his cabinet”, adding Sir Gavin’s reappointment was “not in the public interest”.

“There needs to be an urgent independent investigation into exactly what happened. We can’t have a cover-up, we can’t have a whitewash here,” he says.

Monday 7 November

Downing Street continues to back Sir Gavin. But another article in The Times raises further questions about his time as chief whip in 2016 under Theresa May.

A minister tells the paper that when she was on the backbenches and campaigning on an issue that was causing difficulties for the government, Sir Gavin raised details about her private life in an attempt to silence her – which she interpreted as a tacit threat.

Mr Sunak attends the COP27 climate conference in Egypt and reporters specifically ask about the texts Sir Gavin allegedly sent to Ms Morton.

The PM says it is “right” for an independent complaints investigation to take place into accusations “before making any decisions about the future”.

But he says he had made it “very clear that the language is not right [and] not acceptable”, adding: “That’s why I welcome the fact Gavin Williamson has expressed regret about that.”

Come Monday evening, another incendiary story drops in The Guardian.

A former civil servant who worked under Sir Gavin when he was defence secretary between 2017 and 2019 claims he told them to “slit your throat” and “jump out of the window” in what they felt was a sustained campaign of bullying.

The civil servant, who later left government, says Sir Gavin “deliberately demeaned and intimidated” them on a regular basis. They say they reported the incidents informally to the MoD’s head of human resources, but decided against making a formal complaint.

Sir Gavin releases a statement saying he strongly rejects the allegations and had “enjoyed good working relationships with the many brilliant officials I have worked with across government”.

Tuesday 8 November

In the morning, it is confirmed that rather than leaving the investigation to the Tory party, Ms Morton has referred the text messages to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), the parliamentary watchdog.

Downing Street again insists that the prime minister believes Sir Gavin’s account of the events, but a spokesman describes the civil servant’s allegations as “serious” and says it would consider “proper processes” before commenting further.

The spokesman hints Mr Sunak might not wait until the end of investigations to make a decision about Sir Gavin’s future, but confirms he had attended cabinet that morning.

By early evening, a new allegation emerges on Channel 4 News – this time by Anne Milton, a former deputy chief whip who worked under Sir Gavin.

She tells the programme he “loved salacious gossip and would use it as leverage against MPs if the need arose” and also claims he used an MP’s financial situation as a source of leverage.

At about 7pm, the ex-civil servant tells Sky News they are going to raise a formal complaint to the ICGS too, saying Sir Gavin’s “words and actions had an extreme impact on my mental health”.

At 8.11pm, Sir Gavin resigns in a letter on Twitter.

He said he refuted the “characterisation” of the claims, but that the allegations were “becoming a distraction for the good work this government is doing for the British people” so he would step down and focus on clearing his name.

World

Donald Trump refuses to rule out military force over Panama Canal and Greenland – as he warns NATO to spend more

Published

3 hours ago

January 8, 2025

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Donald Trump refuses to rule out military force over Panama Canal and Greenland - as he warns NATO to spend more

US president-elect Donald Trump has refused to rule out military or economic action to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland – as he said he believes NATO spending should be increased to 5% per member state.

Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Mr Trump made a series of sweeping claims on what his policies could look like when he takes office on 20 January.

He said he believes NATO spending should be increased to 5% per member state, while he also declared US control of Greenland and the Panama Canal as vital to American national security.

The 78-year-old Republican also spoke of relations with Canada, as well as addressing his position on the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.

Sky News takes a look at some of the key claims brought up during the conference.

NATO

Mr Trump claimed “nobody knows more about NATO than I do”, before adding: “If it weren’t for me, NATO wouldn’t exist right now.

“I raised from countries that weren’t paying their bills, over $680bn. I saved NATO, but NATO is taking advantage of us.”

The president-elect also said members of NATO should be contributing 5% of their GDPs (gross domestic product) to defence spending – the previous target has been 2%.

Greenland and Panama Canal

Asked if he can reassure the world he won’t resort to military action or economic coercion in trying to get control of the areas, he said: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.”

“But, I can say this, we need them for economic security.”

He didn’t add any further detail around Greenland – which he has recently suggested the US should own or control – but he said the Panama Canal “was built for our military”.

He said the canal was “vital” to the country and China was “operating” it.

Mr Trump criticised the late Jimmy Carter for his role in signing over the Panama Canal to Panama during his presidency, saying it’s “a disgrace what took place” and “Jimmy Carter gave it to them for one dollar.”

Canada

A day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down, Mr Trump said he believed the US’ northern neighbour should become the 51st US state.

He mocked Mr Trudeau by calling him “governor” rather than prime minister.

He argued the US and Canada combined would amount to an “economic force” that would “really be something”.

“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States,” Mr Trudeau responded.

Israel-Hamas war

Israel has been waging a 15-month war on the militant group ruling Gaza, Hamas, since they launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October which saw 1,200 people massacred and about 250 taken hostage, many of whom remain in captivity.

Mr Trump said: “If those hostages aren’t back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East.”

Nearly 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to Hamas-run health officials in the enclave.

Analysis: Trump’s warning risks becoming less threatening

Ukraine war

Referring to Russia’s ongoing full-scale war against its smaller neighbour, Mr Trump said a “big part of the problem” was Russian President Vladimir Putin had said for many years he did not want Ukraine involved with NATO.

“Somewhere along the line [outgoing President Joe] Biden said you can join NATO,” he said.

“Well, then Russia has NATO right on their doorstep.

“When I heard the way Biden was negotiating I said ‘you are going to end up in a war’ and it turned out to be a war.”

Asked if he would commit to keep supporting Ukraine during negotiations with Moscow, Mr Trump quipped: “Well, I wouldn’t tell you if that were the case.”

Offshore drilling

Mr Trump repeated one of his favourite phrases from the campaign trail, “drill, baby, drill”.

On Monday, outgoing President Biden moved to ban new offshore oil and gas developments along most US coastlines.

But Mr Trump, who has vowed to boost domestic energy production, said he will undo it.

“We’re going to be drilling a lot of other locations,” he said.

World

Donald Trump’s threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

Published

6 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Donald Trump's threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

The public articulation by Donald Trump of a new desired target for NATO allies to spend 5% of national income on defence will surely plunge governments across Europe into crisis mode – not least here in the UK.

Britain presents itself to the world and in particular to the United States as the biggest defence spender in Europe and NATO’s most powerful European military.

Yet Sir Keir Starmer has not even managed to set out a timeline for what he describes as a “path to 2.5%” of GDP being invested in his armed forces, up from just over 2% today.

If the prime minister merely sticks to this pledge, he risks being viewed by the new administration as woefully unambitious and not credible on defence.

Then there is the extraordinary threat by Mr Trump to seize Greenland by force if necessary, even though this valuable piece of territory belongs to a fellow NATO ally in the form of Denmark.

The move – were it to happen – would demonstrate the limitations of the alliance’s Article 5 founding principle.

It is supposed to guarantee that all allies would come to the defence of any member state which is under armed attack.

But what about if the aggressor is also meant to be an ally?

The president-elect also appeared to dash any hope of Ukraine being offered membership to the alliance anytime soon – a core request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Instead, Mr Trump sounded sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s absolute opposition to such a move.

He said he would meet the Russian president after taking office – reiterating a promise to end the war in Ukraine, though again without spelling out how.

The outbursts came in a lengthy press conference on Tuesday that marked the starting shot in what could be a make-or-break test for NATO – an alliance of transatlantic friends that rose from the ashes of the Second World War.

European members of NATO, as well as Canada, already took a battering the last time Mr Trump was in the White House – and rightly so.

The US had for far too long largely bankrolled the security of Europe, while the majority of its allies – including the UK – reaped the so-called “peace dividend” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, swapping expenditure on defence for peacetime priorities such as economic growth, healthcare and education.

Mr Trump made clear during his first term his displeasure about what he saw as Washington being ripped off and vowed to make Europe take its fair share of the burden.

He even warned member states that the US would not come to the aid of an ally that was not hitting at the very least a minimum NATO spending targeting of 2% of GDP – something they had previously pledged to do by 2024 but were slow to deliver on.

Such language electrified allies in a way that even Putin’s initial 2014 invasion of Ukraine, with the annexation of Crimea and attacks in the east of the country, had not.

Yet, with the threat from Russia growing in the wake of its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, coupled with conflict in the Middle East and the challenge posed by China, it has become clear that this heightened level of expenditure by allies was still far short of what is required to rebuild militaries across Europe that have been hollowed out over decades.

Mark Rutte, the new secretary general of NATO, set the stage for what is expected to be another push to ramp up investment when he delivered a landmark speech last month in which he called on allies to return to a “war mindset” and “turbocharge” defence spending.

He said this was to counter growing threats, but observers said it was also a pre-emptive response to the anticipated demands of the next Trump administration.

Either way, it poses a huge challenge for all allies, in particular for Sir Keir Starmer.

He and Rachel Reeves face a choice: change course when it comes to their top priorities of economic growth, hospital waiting lists and new housing and instead invest more in defence or defy what will doubtless be growing demands from the United States to spend billions of pounds more on the UK armed forces – and maybe even leave the country in a position whereby the US would not come to its aid if attacked.

World

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused by US of committing genocide in Sudan war

Published

6 hours ago

January 7, 2025

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Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused by US of committing genocide in Sudan war

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allied militias are committing genocide in Sudan while waging war against the army for control of the country, Joe Biden’s US administration has determined – two weeks before leaving office.

In a statement sharing the designation on Tuesday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the RSF and its aligned militias had “systematically murdered men and boys – even infants – on an ethnic basis” and “deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence”.

He announced that Washington would impose sanctions on RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo and seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE is credibly accused of backing and arming the RSF – something it has strenuously denied.

When reached for comment by Reuters, the RSF rejected these measures and said: “America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong.

“Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong.”

The RSF has been fighting Sudan’s army for territorial control of the country since war erupted in the capital, Khartoum, in April 2023.

The ensuing devastation has been described as the worst humanitarian crisis ever recorded – with over 11 million people forced out of their homes, tens of thousands dead, and 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

In December 2023, Mr Blinken announced that both warring parties had committed war crimes, but that the RSF in particular had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

He mentioned this precedent in this latest announcement, adding: “Today’s action is part of our continued efforts to promote accountability for all warring parties whose actions fuel this conflict.

“The United States does not support either side of this war, and these actions against Hemedti and the RSF do not signify support or favour for the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces).

“Both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan.”