Gavin Williamson accuses May of ‘classic smear’ over reports he made disparaging remarks about PM’s diabetes and wanted to ‘invade Africa’

‘It’s absolutely crazy, on both counts,’ South Staffordshire MP says

Gavin Williamson has accused Theresa May of attempting to smear him, after it was reported that he made disparaging remarks about the prime minister’s diabetes and had considered military intervention in at least five African countries during his tenure as defence secretary.

The former cabinet minister allegedly said Ms May’s medical condition made her unfit to be prime minister, a comment he denies making.

He is also said to have considered military action in countries including Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt, according to The Sunday Times.

Mr Williamson denied the allegations in an interview with Sky News.

“It is absolutely crazy, on both counts,” the South Staffordshire MP said.

“Of course no one has ever suggested it. Classic PM/Sedwill smear because they don’t have any evidence.”

The newspaper also reported that the MP scrawled the words “f*** the prime minister” on official documents after Theresa May refused to let him send British warships into Chinese waters.

Mr Williamson was fired on Wednesday after a probe led by cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill found he was responsible for a leak from a top secret meeting of the National Security Council.

The leak, to a reporter from The Daily Telegraph, revealed that the prime minister had approved the involvement of Chinese company Huawei in building the UK’s 5G network.

Mr Williamson has denied being responsible for the leak but the prime minister claims to have seen compelling evidence to the contrary.

On Saturday assistant commissioner Neil Basu indicated that the former defence secretary would not face criminal charges over the alleged leak.

Mr Basu said he was “satisfied” that the details disclosed to the media did not “contain information that would breach the Official Secrets Act”.

He said he had made the assessment after speaking to the cabinet office regarding the nature of the material discussed at the top-secret meeting.

Mr Williamson had previously called for a full criminal investigation which he said would exonerate him.

He has also called Mr Sedwill’s inquiry into the Huawei leak a “witch hunt”.

Ms May has defended her decision to fire the former defence secretary.

“I did take a difficult decision,” Theresa May told ITV News on Friday.

“This was not about what was leaked, it was about where it was leaked from.

“It was the importance of the question of trust around that National Security Council table.”