Ever since Gavin Williamson’s speedy promotion to Defence Secretary, the Conservative MP has divided opinion in his party. While some enjoy his high profile antics (which include banning Philip Hammonf from MoD jets over an outstanding bill), others think he does too little to mask his leadership ambitions. So, last week Williamson offered his critics ample ammunition when he declared amid the Russia row that the country ‘should go away and shut up’.
While his comments did not have Putin shaking in his boots, they did have his Conservative colleagues in stitches. Today his Cabinet colleague Matt Hancock took the fight public. In a speech at the Press Gallery Lunch, the Culture Secretary appeared to take a pop at Williamson:
‘My message to the opponents of the free press is clear: frankly they should go away and shut up [in an attempted Yorkshire accent]’
Still Williamson can take heart that he wasn’t the only one in the firing line. Hancock also criticised Labour’s Tom Watson over his links to Max Mosley:
‘In my view it’s only someone like Tom Watson who could say it’s a good idea to put Max Mosley in charge of the press regulation of the Jewish Chronicle. It is a great irony of British politics, that Tom is one of Britain’s biggest conspiracy theorists but when a real conspiracy comes along like the Trotskyites taking over the Labour party, he doesn’t even notice.’
They say it’s the company you keep..
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