The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, has sacked her defence secretary Gavin Williamson in an unprecedented May Day massacre after accusing him of leaking sensitive government secrets to The Daily Telegraph. Williamson was identified as the source of the leak after an inquiry by the cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill. “She has got the wrong person and the person who did leak this is still out there,” he told the Daily Telegraph. On May Day, the Prime Minister summoned Williamson to a 30-minute showdown at 10, Downing Street, and fired him after he refused to resign. Williamson was catapulted in as a replacement for Michael Fallon in November 2017 when the latter resigned as defence secretary after admitting his past behaviour towards women had “fallen short” – he had repeatedly placed his hand on the knees of the journalist Julia-Hartley Brewer, although she subsequently said, “No one was remotely upset or distressed.”Williamson has now been replaced by Penny Mordaunt, the first woman to be defence secretary.

Source: The Telegraph May 02, 2019 19:52 UTC