Hours after Williamson resigned as a minister following a series of allegations of bullying and abusive messaging, Starmer used Prime Minister’s Questions to blast Sunak for appointing Williamson to government, then expressed “great regret” at his departure. “Everybody in the country knows someone like the member for South Staffordshire, a sad middle manager who bullies those below him,” Starmer said of Williamson. “But everyone in the country also knows someone like the prime minister, the boss who is so weak, so worried that the bullies will turn on him, who is hiding behind them. What message does he think he’s sending when, instead of confronting the bullies, he stands beside them and thanks them for their faith?’ Starmer added: “If he can’t even stand a cartoon bully with a pet spider, if he’s too scared to face the public in an election, what chance does he have of running the country?” Williamson, who as Theresa May’s chief whip kept a tarantula on his desk as part of a calculated menace image, resigned from the Cabinet on Tuesday night after the Guardian revealed claims he told a senior civil servant to “cut your the neck” while he was Minister of Defense. PMQs: Williamson ‘cartoon bully with pet spider’, says Starmer – video highlights Earlier, it was revealed that Williamson sent angry and abusive messages to Wendy Morton, Liz Truss’s chief whip, after she was not invited to the Queen’s funeral. Also on Tuesday, former deputy leader Anne Milton claimed Williamson used “leverage” and threats to control MPs and instill a culture of fear. Sunak told Starmer that Williamson’s behavior was unacceptable, adding: “And it is absolutely right that the right honorable gentleman has resigned.” He said he was not aware of any of the specific allegations about Williamson before he made him a Cabinet minister last month. Starmer opened PMQs by referring to the Guardian story and the Prime Minister’s response to Williamson’s resignation, in which Sunak expressed “great sadness” at his departure. “The member for South Staffordshire told a public servant to cut his throat,” Starmer began. “How does the prime minister believe the victim of this bullying when he expressed great sadness at his resignation?” Starmer said Williamson had “spent years flirting with the idea that he can bully others, blurring the lines to normalize bullying behaviour” and asked Sunak if he regretted the decision to make him a minister. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Sunak hit back at Labor jeers: “Obviously I regret appointing someone who had to stand down in these circumstances.” He insisted that his government would be characterized by “integrity, professionalism and responsibility”. Starmer expanded on his point, saying Sunak’s inability to take on Williamson meant he was unable to tackle other issues such as extending a windfall tax on energy producers or dealing with rivals within the Tory party. “It’s a pattern with this prime minister: too weak to dismiss the security threat sat around the cabinet table. Too weak to take part in a leadership contest after losing the first one. too weak to stand up for working people,” the Labor leader said. “He spent weeks flirting with the climate change deniers in his party and then went to the Police at the last minute.”
