Rishi Sunak continues to have “confidence” in Gavin Williamson despite fresh allegations about his conduct.
Williamson, who was promoted to Cabinet Office minister when Sunak became prime minister, is under renewed pressure following reports in The Guardian that he told a ministry of defence official to “slit your throat”.
On a separate occasion, Williamson is alleged to have also told civil servants to “jump out the window”.
The MoD official told the newspaper that Williamson “deliberately demeaned and intimidated” them on a regular basis.
In a statement, Williamson said: “I strongly reject this allegation and have enjoyed good working relationships with the many brilliant officials I have worked with across government. No specific allegations have ever been brought to my attention.”
The prime minister’s official spokesperson described the latest allegations as “serious” but said Sunak still had confidence in Williamson.
“Obviously, there have been further allegations reported this morning. Those are serious allegations that have come in. It’s true that no formal complaint has been made,” the spokesman said.
They added that Downing Street would consider “proper processes” before commenting further.
The fresh allegations come after Williamson already faces pressure over a series of extraordinary texts he sent to the former chief whip, Wendy Morton.
In them Williamson accused Morton, who served under Liz Truss, of using the death of the Queen Elizabeth to “punish” senior MPs who did not support her by excluding them from the funeral.
The exchange of messages concluded with him saying: “Well let’s see how many more times you f*** us all over. There is a price for everything.”
The prime minister is facing questions about his judgement after it emerged at the weekend that he was aware of Morton’s complaint.
However, Sunak ally Oliver Dowden said Sunak had not seen the specific messages sent to Morton.
Former Tory party chairman Sir Jake Berry said he informed Sunak on the day he took the reins as Tory leader that Morton had lodged a formal complaint over the messages.
The PM went ahead with the appointment the next day, with Downing Street citing his belief that Williamson would make an “important contribution” to government.
Yesterday Sunak defied calls to sack Williamson despite admitting that his messages to Morton were “not acceptable”.
The PM said he would not be “passing judgment” until after an “independent complaints investigation”, understood to be the internal investigation launched by the Tory party.
“I want to see the results of that, obviously, but I’ve been very clear that language is not right, it’s not acceptable,” he told broadcasters at the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.
As well as the internal probe by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), Williamson will also face an independent investigation by a parliamentary watchdog.