CABINET minister Gavin Williamson has been accused of making a "tacit threat" by raising a sensitive issue to a female Tory MP about her private life during a meeting.
The Times reports that a fellow Tory minister is believed to have claimed Williamson mentioned an issue about her private life in 2016 in a bid to silence her on an issue which was causing the government difficulty.
The MP interpreted the conversations as a threat, according to the newspaper, and told the party over the weekend that she would now be willing to discuss the incident.
This comes just days after it was revealed that Williamson had sent then Tory chief whip Wendy Morton a series of abusive text messages.
Allies of Williamson denied any threat, telling the newspaper he had only raised the personal issue in “pastoral capacity” as chief whip at the time.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak labelled the abusive texts as “not acceptable or right” in an interview with The Sun.
Sunak had been aware of the disagreement between the pair although not the specifics of the exchange.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps said Williamson was not “right” to send a series of angry texts to a colleague – calling them “inappropriate”.
He told Sky News: “I don’t think it was the right thing to do, to send messages like that. I see they must have been sent in a moment of frustration.”
Asked about the fresh claim of a “tacit threat”, Shapps told Times Radio: “If there are further allegations those would have to be taken seriously – but I do think it’s important that a proper process is followed rather than jumping to conclusions.”
On Sunday, both the SNP and Scottish Greens criticised Sunak for his decision to bring Williamson back into government.
In his message to Morton, Williamson accused her of seeking to “punish” MPs who were out of favour with Liz Truss by excluding them from the Queen’s funeral.
Williamson has said: “I, of course, regret getting frustrated about the way colleagues and I felt we were being treated. I am happy to speak with Wendy and I hope to work positively with her in the future as I have in the past.”
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