Former defence secretary Gavin Williamson has told Sky News he denies leaking information from the National Security Council and says his sacking was a politically motivated decision.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Theresa May had "lost confidence in his ability to serve".

Penny Mordaunt, the current international development secretary, will replace Mr Williamson.

However, the outgoing defence secretary said he did not leak from the NSC meeting and made that message clear to the prime minister in a meeting earlier today.

"I did not leak this - I would not have leaked this," he told the prime minister.


Denying his involvement in the leak, he told Sky News: "I have been completely and utterly screwed.

"When I spoke to the prime minister she said I could either resign or be sacked, I said I would not resign because I did not leak this information, so she sacked me.

"The prime minister needs to show she is strong and bold, this is a useful way of doing that... it is politics."

Spoken to Gavin Williamson. He swore on his children’s life to me that he didn’t leak the Huawei news and neither did his staff. Said he believes this is the settling of a vendetta between him and Mark Sedwill — Alistair Bunkall (@AliBunkallSKY) May 1, 2019

Speaking to Sky's Alistair Bunkall, Mr Williamson swore on his children's lives that he did not leak the Huawei news, and neither did his staff.

He said he believed his sacking is the settling of a vendetta between him and Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary.

Mr Williamson's allies also claim that his sacking was a politically motivated decision made because Mr Sedwill asked the prime minister to sack him over historical disagreements between the pair.

In his response letter to the prime minister, Mr Williamson said: "I am confident that a thorough and formal inquiry would have vindicated my position.

"[…] To resign would have been to accept that I, my civil servants, my military advisers or my staff were responsible: this was not the case."

Deputy leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson, said the "obvious conclusion" to Mrs May's letter is that Mr Williamson should face a criminal inquiry.

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson says the "obvious conclusion" to Theresa May's letter is that Gavin Williamson should face a criminal inquiry.



Read more on this breaking story here: https://t.co/caxuF4IPSZ pic.twitter.com/tHO5lkylfn — Sky News Politics (@SkyNewsPolitics) May 1, 2019

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said it was not involved in any investigation of the National Security Council leak.

Sky's political correspondent Lewis Goodall said: "This sort of leak has never happened in the entirety of the National Security Council's existence since 2010 when it was set up by the prime minister at the time, David Cameron.

"It is a crime to leak from the NSC. There had been indications that the police might be drawn in and it is entirely possible that a criminal prosecution might even follow.

"Of course, we don't know whether it was him or a member of his team."

Image: Huawei had its bid to help build Britain's 5G network green lit

Rory Stewart, who is replacing Ms Mourdant as the new international development secretary, told Sky News that he is "absolutely delighted" to get promoted to the cabinet.

"Above all it's a chance to engage with some of the most pressing issues in the world," he said, listing climate change and overseas aid spending.

He added he has "full confidence" in the investigation that resulted in Mr Williamson being fired.

Mr Williamson's sacking marks the end of a probe into the leak from last week's NSC meeting, which green-lit a bid by Chinese telecoms giant Huawei to help build Britain's 5G network.

Details of the decision were leaked to the media but there has been no official confirmation by the government.

Image: Conservative MP Rory Stewart will replace Penny Mourdant as international development secretary

An internal investigation was launched, while one Tory MP also called for a criminal inquiry.

Downing Street said Mr Williamson had been fired over the "unauthorised disclosure".

Mrs May wrote in a letter to the former chief whip that his "conduct has not been of the same standard" as other ministers interviewed about the leak.

She said the investigation "provides compelling evidence suggesting your responsibility for the unauthorised disclosure" and there was "no other, credible version of events to explain this leak".

Mr Williamson has previously strongly denied being behind the leak.

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