Starmer says Williamson “not fit” to be a minister and row shows Sunak is “weak”

Keir Starmer has described Gavin Williamson as “not fit” to be a cabinet minister and said that his appointment shows that Rishi Sunak is “weak”.

Talking to journalists this morning, the Labour leader said it is “so disappointing that yet again we’re having a discussion about the Prime Minister’s judgment”. Sunak has also been criticised for his decision to reappoint Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, just six days after she resigned for breaching the ministerial code.

“He’s clearly got people around the cabinet table who are not fit to be there. That is because he was so weak and wanted to avoid an election within his own party,” Starmer said, adding that “the only way out of this” would be to hold a general election “because these debates are going to go on”.

“We should say to the public, they should have a choice: do you want to carry on with this chaos or do you want the stability of a Labour government? That’s why I think there is such a powerful case for a general election,” he said.

“Gavin Williamson has got history when it comes to breaches of security and leaking, etc. He is clearly not suitable, but the central focus really here is on the Prime Minister, to ask the question why has he put these people around the cabinet.”

Williamson was sacked from Theresa May’s government in 2019 after an investigation concluded he had leaked discussions about the role of Chinese telecoms firm Huawei in the UK’s 5G network. He was later sacked by Boris Johnson after being criticised for his handling of school exams during the pandemic.

Sunak is under pressure after bringing Williamson back into government despite being warned he was under investigation for allegedly bullying former chief whip Wendy Morton. He has been accused of sending Morton threatening messages.

The Prime Minister described the messages sent by Williamson to Morton as “not acceptable or right”. He said he had been aware of the “disagreement” but had not known the details of the exchange. He added that there is a Tory Party investigation taking place and insisted that it is “right to let that conclude”.

Starmer’s comments also come as an unnamed Tory minister is said to have claimed that Williamson brought up her private life in 2016 in a bid to silence her while he was serving as chief whip and she was a backbencher. According to The Times, the minister interpreted the conversation as a tacit threat.

Starmer also insisted that his party is “united”, following accusations that the Labour leadership has been overseeing a “purge” of left-wing candidates in the process to select the individuals who will represent the party at the next general election.

“We will have a big challenge and so of course we are making sure we have got the very best candidates to put before the public for that general election which we so desperately need,” Starmer said.