"He can't even stand up to a cartoon bully with a pet spider", so how can he stand up for the British people?”.

Rishi Sunak endured yet another bruising PMQs this afternoon, as he faced questions over his appointment of Gavin Williamson, who quit in disgrace yesterday over allegations of bullying, as well as over why his windfall tax had failed to adequately tax energy companies amid rising profits.

Sunak expressed sadness over Williamson’s resignation, with Labour leader Keir Starmer asking him how he thought the victim who alleged that Williamson told to ‘slit her throat’ must’ve felt at Sunak’s remarks.

Starmer told PMQs: “Gavin Williamson told a civil servant – that he should ‘slit his own throat’, how does he think that civil servant felt when he expressed ‘great sadness’ at his resignation?”

Sunak replied that it was “absolutely right” Williamson had resigned and he didn’t know about the “specific” allegations.

Starmer also told Sunak that Williamson is “a pathetic bully” but that he would “never get away with it without people like the Prime Minister handing him power”.

At a time of soaring profits for oil and gas companies, Starmer also asked Sunak why companies like Shell had not paid a single penny under the prime minister’s windfall tax.  That’s thanks to loopholes introduced by Sunak when he was chancellor.

Starmer told the Commons that Sunak: “Can’t even stand up to a cartoon bully with a pet spider”, so how can he stand up for the British people?”.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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