Gavin Williamson: Now he's told to 'go away and shut up'

In a leak investigation, that has broken the precedent of most leak investigations that end up with precisely no result at all, a rapid hunt of just a few days has resulted in the sacking of one of the most senior ministers in government, and one of the few ministers frankly, that the prime minister could more or less rely on. Mr Williamson was for a while chief whip too, the keeper of the government's secrets. And, crucially, one of the few ministers who had good relations with the DUP. Indeed, brokering a deal on Theresa May's behalf in the wreckage of the 2017 general election. But there was also a lot of resentment and frustration in government circles at how he sometimes behaved, suspicion often that he was too quick to seek his own political advantage, too interested in his own future, too entertained by the dark arts of Westminster. That meant that as soon as the Huawei story broke, fingers were being privately pointed to him as the source of the leak. 'Operation get Gav', as one of his allies described it.