Col. Jerry Farnsworth (right), chief of staff, Army National Military Cemeteries and Arlington National Cemetery (ANC); greets British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (left) upon his arrival at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 1, 2018. This was Williamson’s first visit to ANC, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and toured the Memorial Amphitheater Display Room. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released) - Public Domain
Yesterday I posted 41 reasons why #JohnsonOut needs to happen. In writing this I barely scratched the surface. In fact, I had to cut more scandals than most politicians accrue in their entire careers! Thankfully, that means we’ve got plenty to keep going for the next few weeks at least. With that said, let’s move on to Reason 42 – namely, Sir Gavin Williamson.
Credit for Reason 42 goes to @AlisonCarrick1
(I will probably cover the other points in Alison’s tweet at a later date)
Gavin Williamson has an interesting history
On Thursday, Boris Johnson gave Gavin Williamson a knighthood. When questioned, Downing Street did little to justify the decision. In reality, it seems that Downing Street has privately acknowledged that Gavin Williamson’s knighthood is difficult to justify and appears “corrupt”.
Gavin Williamson has a history here. Two separate Prime Ministers have sacked Gavin Williamson from Ministerial posts. In the first instance, Theresa May sacked him from his post as Defence Secretary in 2019 for leaking information. A few years later, Boris Johnson sacked him from his post as Education Secretary in 2021 after a catalogue of failings. More recently, it has been alleged that he has threatened rebellious MPs with withdrawing funds.
Putting all this together, we have:
- A man with a very chequered past
- Who, for no apparent reason, has just been made a Knight of the Realm
- At a time when the Prime Minister is already under fire for cronyism
The timing of this is awful and raises all sorts of questions. Fundamentally, why now? At best, it shows a continued lack of judgement from the Prime Minister. At worst, it points to something far more insidious.
Keep the #JohnsonOut hashtag going!
Boris Johnson’s continued tenure as Prime Minister is an affront to basic decency. Let’s keep hammering home the hashtag until he goes!
