Gavin Williamson is still causing problems for Rishi Sunak

Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions showed it is possible for someone who has resigned for being a distraction to continue being so even in absentia. The first questions from Keir Starmer were all about Rishi Sunak’s appointment of Gavin Williamson and his departure. The Labour leader had good lines, while the Prime Minister was unable to show strength in suggesting he had been the one to force Williamson out of government. Instead he could only say that he regretted ‘appointing someone who had to resign in these circumstances’ and that he wanted to send a message that ‘integrity in public life matters, that is why it is right that he resigned’. It all made Sunak sound rather passive and as though Williamson had been calling the shots. Williamson, of course, denies all the allegations and has quit in part to clear his name.