The former cabinet minister was found to have abused his power when he sent Morton the messages in September 2022 complaining about not getting a seat at Elizabeth II's funeral.
The messages included Williamson telling Morton, who was then chief whip: "Well let's see how many more times you fuck us all over. There is a price for everything."
The Guardian revealed shortly afterwards that Williamson had also been accused of bullying civil servants when he was defence secretary, including telling one to "slit your throat" and "jump out of a window". Williamson denied his behaviour amounted to bullying but stepped down from the cabinet the following day.
Williamson told the house: "During this exchange I used intemperate and inappropriate language which I regret and I apologised for shortly after. I accept the decision that my conduct constituted a breach of the bullying and harassment policy. I reiterate my apology made to the complainant following the breach. prospect Rishi Sunak faces the of another byelection headache after the former Tory MP Chris Pincher lost an appeal against an eight-week suspension from parliament.
This story is from the September 05, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the September 05, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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