Gavin Williamson told civil servant to 'slit your throat' in fresh allegations

UK Cabinet Office Minister Sir Gavin Williamson allegedly asked a senior civil servant to "slit your throat" while he was serving as defence secretary.

A former official of the ministry told The Guardian that he once asked them to "jump out of the window" during a meeting.

The report added that Sir Gavin "deliberately demeaned and intimidated" the civil servant in what they called a "bullying campaign." He served as defence secretary from November 2017 until May 2019.

However, Williamson has rejected all such claims stating that he has "enjoyed good working relationships" with officials.

In a statement addressing the issues, he 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."

This is not the first time that Sir Gavin has courted controversy and put Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a spot for the decision to make him a part of his cabinet.

Sir Gavin was already under investigation for allegedly bullying former chief whip Wendy Morton. He sent Morton a series of expletive-laden texts for excluding him from the queen's funeral. One of his messages read: "There is a price for everything."

He accused Morton of "punishing" MPs out of favour with the then-prime minister, Liz Truss. The texts were published by the Sunday Times recently. He is currently being investigated by Tory HQ.

Prime Minister Sunak has condemned the language used in the texts but has made it clear that he will only take action once the investigation has been completed.

He said it was "right" for the investigation of a complaint to take place "before making any decisions about the future." His official spokesperson also said that the prime minister had full confidence in him.

Sunak succeeded Liz Truss as prime minister on October 25, and he appointed Sir Gavin as a minister of state at the Cabinet Office.