Williamson forced to apologise for bullying

Former Cabinet minister Sir Gavin Williamson has apologised “fully and unreservedly” after he was found to have sent bullying text messages to a fellow Conservative MP. 

Williamson was forced to resign from Rishi Sunak’s government last year, after Tortoise revealed that he had sent threatening messages to the then-chief whip Wendy Morton. 

It subsequently emerged that he had accused her of excluding him and others from the late Queen’s funeral “to punish people”, and warned: “There is a price for everything.”

Williamson, who played a key role in Sunak’s leadership campaign, apologised in the Commons on Monday, after being ordered to by an independent panel, which found he breached Parliament’s bullying and harassment policy. 

He accepted he had used “intemperate and inappropriate language”, adding: “I accept the decision that my conduct constituted a breach of the bullying and harassment policy and have since reflected on my behaviour.” 

Williamson, who has also been ordered to undergo training, vowed he would “do my utmost to ensure this does not happen again”.