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Sacked minister Gavin Williamson accuses Theresa May of Brexit 'betrayal' over Labour talks

2 min read

Sacked defence secretary Gavin Williamson has warned Theresa May her talks with the Labour party over Brexit amount to a “betrayal”.


In a naked attack, the ex-Cabinet minister said it was a “grave mistake” to be in compromise talks with a party seeking to bring down the Government.

Mr Williamson was sacked by the Prime Minister earlier this month over allegations he leaked a security briefing about Chinese tech firm Huawei to the press.

But breaking cover since his dismissal, he turned his fire on the cross-party talks aimed at ending the Brexit deadlock in Westminster.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said it was “naïve” to appeal to the opposition and urged Mrs May to seek a Brexit solution among the Conservative “tribe”.

He said many within the party believed Mrs May was “negotiating with the enemy” in her talks with Jeremy Corbyn and top Labour figures.

The South Staffordshire MP said: “Even if Labour do a deal, break bread with the Prime Minister and announce that both parties have reached an agreement, it can only ever end in tears."

He added: "The Labour party does not exist to help the Conservative party. Jeremy Corbyn will do all he can to divide, disrupt and frustrate the Conservatives in the hope of bringing down the Government.

"His goal, and he has made no secret of it, is to bring about a general election."

Mr Williamson went on: “Even if we get to a point where Jeremy Corbyn agrees a deal with the Prime Minister, when it comes to detailed scrutiny of the votes, Labour will revert to form… Even if it passes the first few votes, it will fail later.

“We need to accept that these talks with Labour are fruitless and that not only will they not deliver the Brexit that people voted for, they are a betrayal of the direct instructions the people gave us in 2016 and 2017.”

According to the BBC, a Downing Street source indicated that Mr Williamson had been “supportive of the process [of the talks] while he was in the Cabinet”.

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