Three key questions Gavin Williamson must answer over security leaks – The Yorkshire Post says
They must have known that this was the start of one of the more jaw-dropping political scandals after the Prime Minister accepted the conclusions of her own Cabinet Secretary, Sir Mark Sedwell, over culpability.
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Hide AdHis verdict was such that Mrs May should have instructed the Cabinet Office to send the findings voluntarily to the Metropolitan Police to see if there had been any breach of the Official Secrets Act rather than wait for opponents to apply political pressure.
It is this failure to foresee the fallout which most perplexes members of the public who expect total propriety from their Ministers. The clue is in the name of the forum where the highly-sensitive discussions took place about a link-up with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.
Yet, while Mr Williamson protests his innocence, he has – for now – not come up with sufficiently compelling reasons to doubt Mrs May’s decision.
Perhaps he could help matters by explaining why he did not fully co-operate with the leak inquiry after promising that he would? As Mrs May told him: “Your conduct has not been of the same standard as others.”
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Hide AdPerhaps he could clarify whether he submitted, like others – his mobile phone for scrutiny – if not, why not? – and perhaps he could explain if his conversation with a journalist prior to the Huawei revelations becoming public was arranged through official channels? For, the longer this goes on, the greater the number of unanswered questions for the former Defence Secretary, Prime Minister and, ultimately, the police to answer because of the gravity of this security breach.