A criminal investigation into allegations Gavin Williamson leaked details of intelligence discussions will only be opened if the Metropolitan Police receives a referral from the Cabinet Office, the force’s commissioner has said.
The remarks from Cressida Dick follow Theresa May declaring “the matter closed” after brutally dismissing her defence secretary after a internal inquiry into an unprecedented leak from the government’s National Security Council.
Labour and Westminster’s other political parties have since called for a criminal investigation into the disclosure of information regarding Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei‘s access to the UK’s 5G mobile network.
But speaking on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police commissioner said she would reply to letters from politicians calling for an investigation but officers could not progress without seeing the evidence.
“If the Cabinet Office were to send us a referral at any point that related to apparent official secrets or an associated leak, we would assess that, scope it and go through a very formal gateway process for taking on any criminal investigation,” she told journalists.
Ms Dick said the Metropolitan Police had the expertise to investigate Official Secrets Act cases and worked with the Crown Prosecution Service on the “complex case law” surrounding them.
1/50 1 May 2019
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange, in a prison van, as he leaves Southwark Crown Court in London. He was sentenced to 50 week in prison for breaching his bail conditions. Assange was found guilty of breaching the Bail Act in April after his arrest after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
EPA
2/50 30 April 2019
Coco, aged 11, runs through 181 pairs of wellies, as they go on display to represent the average number of people rescued by The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) every week in the UK and Ireland at Potters Fields Park in London. There are 4,900 volunteer crew members supporting 238 lifeboat stations. RNLI’s annual Mayday fundraising campaign aims to raise £700,000 to fund lifesaving kit. Following the campaign, the yellow wellies from the installation will be available to purchase, in exchange for a small donation
PA
3/50 29 April 2019
Buster the Golden Retriever, belonging to David Torrance MSP, at this year’s Holyrood Dog of the Year competition, organised jointly by Dogs Trust and the Kennel Club at the Scottish Parliament Gardens in Edinburgh.
PA
4/50 28 April 2019
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk poses with his PFA Player of the Year award
PA
5/50 27 April 2019
Cyclists lay down as they take part in the Extinction Rebellion protest at the Tate Modern in London, Britain
REUTERS
6/50 26 April 2019
Liberal Democratic Party leader Vince Cable speaks at a launch event for the party’s candidates for the European Parliament election in London
AFP/Getty
7/50 25 April 2019
Extinction Rebellion protesters (left to right) Alan Heath, 55, research scientist, Jen Witts, 38, support worker for vulnerable people, Sian Vaughan 53, retired head teacher, Debbie Rees, 57, Gardener and artist, Kef Shimidzu, 55, tutor and learning support worker, Lucy Galvin, 53, civil servant and Johnny Woon, 60, retired, glued themselves to the entrances of the London Stock Exchange in the City of London
PA
8/50 24 April 2019
Engineers from the Canal and River Trust repair a leak at the base of a deep 200 year old, Grade II listed lock in Gloucester, where the tidal River Severn meets Gloucester Docks in the city and a specially manufactured steel dam is now holding back the river water, with more than 100 tonnes of accumulated silt being removed from the damaged area of the lock so that the team can undertake repairs
PA
9/50 23 April 2019
Amateur James Cahill celebrates beating snooker world number one, Ronnie O’Sullivan, in the first round of the World Championship. In arguably the biggest shock in the tournament’s history, Cahill held his nerve to beat five-time champion O’Sullivan 10-8 at the Crucible
PA
10/50 22 April 2019
Extinction Rebellion climate change activists perform a mass “die in” under the blue whale in the foyer of the Natural History Museum in London, on the eighth day of the environmental group’s protest calling for political change to combat climate change. Some 963 arrests have been made and 42 people charged in connection with the ongoing protests
AFP/Getty
11/50 21 April 2019
Firefighters tackle a large fire on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire
PA
12/50 20 April 2019
Police officers remove a potted plant that was placed in the occupation of Waterloo Bridge in London by Extinction Rebellion protesters
EPA
13/50 19 April 2019
British actress Emma Thompson gives an address from the stage atop the pink boat to climate change activists occupying the road junction at Oxford Circus in central London during the fifth day of environmental protests by the Extinction Rebellion group
AFP/Getty
14/50 18 April 2019
A burning car in Creggan, Londonderry after petrol bombs were thrown at police. Belfast Journalist Lyra McKee was killed during the riots. Police Service of Northern Ireland said that McKee was allegedly shot while reporting on clashes with dissident republican rioters
PA
15/50 17 April 2019
Members of the so called ‘Red Brigade’ march in disobedience on the street from Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus to protest in London. The group Extinction Rebellion is calling for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change
AP
16/50 16 April 2019
Extinction Rebellion demonstrators camp near Marble Arch, London, as more than 100 people have been arrested as police deal with ongoing climate change protests
PA
17/50 15 April 2019
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tries his hand at archery during a visit to Sunnyvale Fishery and Outdoor Activity centre, a youth crime reduction project in Calderdale
PA
18/50 14 April 2019
A woman photographs blossoming tulips in Holland Park
PA
19/50 13 April 2019
Lincoln City’s Bruno Andrade (left) and Shay McCartan celebrate being promoted after their Sky Bet League Two match at Sincil Bank, Lincoln
PA
20/50 12 April 2019
Supporters march during the YouthStrike4Climate demonstration in central London
AFP/Getty
21/50 11 April 2019
The Milky Way and millions of stars over Dinstanburgh Castle in the early hours of the morning. Dunstanburgh Castle is a 14th-century fortification on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton. The castle was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster between 1313 and 1322
PA
22/50 10 April 2019
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May react during an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels
Reuters
23/50 9 April 2019
England’s Ellen White celebrates after her side go 1-0 up against Spain during their friendly match at the Energy Check County Ground, Swindon. The Lionesses went on to win 2-1
PA
24/50 8 April 2019
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and fellow Labour MPs welcome the newly elected MP for Newport West, Ruth Jones (right), to the Houses of Parliament
PA
25/50 7 April 2019
James Cracknell celebrates after winning the Men’s Boat Race with Cambridge. Former Olympic and World Champion Cracknell, 46, became the oldest entrant in Boat Race history, qualifying after taking up a Master of Philosophy degree in human evolution
Getty
26/50 6 April 2019
Davy Russell, riding Tiger Roll, celebrates winning the Random Health Grand National at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool. He became the first horse since Red Rum to win back-to-back renewals
EPA
27/50 5 April 2019
Activists in hazmat suits and masks stop traffic in west London in a protest accusing authorities of lying after cancer-causing chemicals were found in soil close to Grenfell Tower
PA
28/50 4 April 2019
England football manager Gareth Southgate with the OBE that he received at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London
PA
29/50 3 April 2019
Newborn lambs in a snow covered field near Allendale, Northumberland, after temperatures dipped below freezing overnight. Hill snow, sleet, showers and gales are expected for parts of the UK as the chilly snap keeps hold.
PA
30/50 2 April 2019
Armathwaite Hall hotel in Keswick, Cumbria holds Lemoga classes with the lemurs from Lake District Wild Life Park, who were mingling with the class to create a personal yoga experience which aims to heighten the sense of wellbeing for both lemur and human. With their friendly, outgoing personalities and love for human contact, lemurs make the perfect yoga buddies, helping people to laugh, unwind and stretch away their troubles
PA
31/50 1 April 2019
Fire fighters attend to two police cars that were destroyed after being set on fire outside Goldthorpe police station in South Yorkshire in a suspected arson attack
PA
32/50 31 March 2019
Forensics teams work at the scene of a stabbing in Edmonton in London. Four people have been stabbed in a spate of knife attacks in the north of the capital over the weekend
Getty
33/50 30 March 2019
Workers from the Honda plant in Swindon during a protest march through the town as the car giant will be urged to reverse its decision to close its UK plant
Unite South West/PA
34/50 29 March 2019
Pro-Brexit protesters outside Westminster as MPs voted on a Government motion on the EU withdrawal
PA
35/50 28 March 2019
England football captain Harry Kane is made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the Duke of Cambridge during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace
PA
36/50 27 March 2019
Gallery staff give a final dusting to the ‘Olympe’ sculpture by Aspencrow, modelled on Cara Delevingne and an interpretation of Medusa, as it is unveiled at the JD Malay Gallery in Mayfair, London
PA
37/50 26 March 2019
PD Marci with handler PC Neil Billany, PD Kai with handler PC Jean Pearce, PD Bruno with handler Rob Smith, PD Delta with handler PC Mark Snoxhall, PDSA vet Rosamund Ford, and PD Dave with handler PC Andy Salter at Borough market in London where the dogs were honoured with the PDSA Order of Merit for helping emergency services during the 2017 London terror attacks at Westminster Bridge, London Bridge and Borough Market
PA
38/50 25 March 2019
Britain’s Attorney General Geoffrey Cox arrives in Downing street, London for a cabinet meeting. British Prime Minister Theresa May will today chair a potentially volatile meeting of her cabinet amid reports of an attempted coup by colleagues over her handling of Brexit.
AFP/Getty
39/50 24 March 2019
Workers peeling off stickers left on the Cabinet Office door on Whitehall, London, left by anti-Brexit campaigners after they took part in the People’s Vote March
PA
40/50 23 March 2019
Protesters take part in the Put It To The People March on Whitehall in London. Thousands of protesters gathered for the march from Park Lane to Parliament Square calling for a public vote on the Governments final Brexit deal
Getty
41/50 22 March 2019
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after a news briefing after meeting with EU leaders in Brussels
Reuters
42/50 21 March 2019
The mosque and community centre on Albert Road in Birmingham where a police forensic team are at work after it had its windows smashed with a sledgehammer. An investigation involving counter-terrorism officers has been launched after four mosques in the Birmingham area were attacked overnight
PA
43/50 20 March 2019
Gallery technicians install Edvard Munch’s The Scream at the British Museum in London, ahead of the opening of Edvard Munch: love and angst exhibition, which runs from 11 April to 21 July
PA
44/50 19 March 2019
The ‘tall ship’ William II passes a wind turbine as it sails along the north east coast near Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear after it set off from Blyth in Northumberland on a voyage round the coastline of Great Britain calling at 10 ports en route and changing crews at each stage. The Blyth Tall Ship project is a charity working alongside Blyth community volunteers to recapture the spirit of adventure that was employed in the town to discover the Antarctic 200 years ago and the turbine is part of a pilot field operated by EDF off Blyth which uses concrete float-and-submerge foundations
PA
45/50 18 March 2019
Messenger, the largest bronze cast sculpture in the UK, arrives in Plymouth Sound by barge as it makes its way to be installed outside Theater Royal Plymouth, Devon
PA
46/50 17 March 2019
Flooding in Silsdend, Yorkshire. Heavy rain has caused widespread flooding across the country. Flood warnings remain in place across the UK
PA
47/50 16 March 2019
Police at the scene in Fulham, west London where a 29-year-old man was stabbed to death this morning. The Metropolitan Police said it was called “to reports of a fight in progress” by ambulance crews and arrived on the scene at about 12.27am. The victim was found with stab wounds and died at the scene at 12.56am despite attempts by paramedics and members of the public to save his life
PA
48/50 15 March 2019
Schoolchildren gather around Queen Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace as they take part in a student climate protest in London. Thousands of pupils from schools, colleges and universities across the UK will walk out in the second major strike against climate change this year. Young people nationwide are calling on the Government to declare a climate emergency and take action. Similar strikes are taking place around the world today including in Japan and Australia, inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg who criticised world leaders at a United Nations climate conference
Getty
49/50 14 March 2019
Families of those killed during Bloody Sunday march through Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Public Prosecution Service announced only one former British soldier is to be put on trial in connection with his role in the shootings that left 13 people dead in Derry on 30 January 1972. Families of those killed gathered outside The Museum of Free Derry, yards from where the killings took place, before marching to the city centre hotel to hear the announcement
Charles McQuillan
Getty
50/50 13 March 2019
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, to deliver his Spring Statement. He announced he was slashing the UK growth forecast and warned no-deal Brexit will destroy pledge to end austerity
PA
1/50 1 May 2019
Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange, in a prison van, as he leaves Southwark Crown Court in London. He was sentenced to 50 week in prison for breaching his bail conditions. Assange was found guilty of breaching the Bail Act in April after his arrest after spending seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
EPA
2/50 30 April 2019
Coco, aged 11, runs through 181 pairs of wellies, as they go on display to represent the average number of people rescued by The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) every week in the UK and Ireland at Potters Fields Park in London. There are 4,900 volunteer crew members supporting 238 lifeboat stations. RNLI’s annual Mayday fundraising campaign aims to raise £700,000 to fund lifesaving kit. Following the campaign, the yellow wellies from the installation will be available to purchase, in exchange for a small donation
PA
3/50 29 April 2019
Buster the Golden Retriever, belonging to David Torrance MSP, at this year’s Holyrood Dog of the Year competition, organised jointly by Dogs Trust and the Kennel Club at the Scottish Parliament Gardens in Edinburgh.
PA
4/50 28 April 2019
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk poses with his PFA Player of the Year award
PA
5/50 27 April 2019
Cyclists lay down as they take part in the Extinction Rebellion protest at the Tate Modern in London, Britain
REUTERS
6/50 26 April 2019
Liberal Democratic Party leader Vince Cable speaks at a launch event for the party’s candidates for the European Parliament election in London
AFP/Getty
7/50 25 April 2019
Extinction Rebellion protesters (left to right) Alan Heath, 55, research scientist, Jen Witts, 38, support worker for vulnerable people, Sian Vaughan 53, retired head teacher, Debbie Rees, 57, Gardener and artist, Kef Shimidzu, 55, tutor and learning support worker, Lucy Galvin, 53, civil servant and Johnny Woon, 60, retired, glued themselves to the entrances of the London Stock Exchange in the City of London
PA
8/50 24 April 2019
Engineers from the Canal and River Trust repair a leak at the base of a deep 200 year old, Grade II listed lock in Gloucester, where the tidal River Severn meets Gloucester Docks in the city and a specially manufactured steel dam is now holding back the river water, with more than 100 tonnes of accumulated silt being removed from the damaged area of the lock so that the team can undertake repairs
PA
9/50 23 April 2019
Amateur James Cahill celebrates beating snooker world number one, Ronnie O’Sullivan, in the first round of the World Championship. In arguably the biggest shock in the tournament’s history, Cahill held his nerve to beat five-time champion O’Sullivan 10-8 at the Crucible
PA
10/50 22 April 2019
Extinction Rebellion climate change activists perform a mass “die in” under the blue whale in the foyer of the Natural History Museum in London, on the eighth day of the environmental group’s protest calling for political change to combat climate change. Some 963 arrests have been made and 42 people charged in connection with the ongoing protests
AFP/Getty
11/50 21 April 2019
Firefighters tackle a large fire on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire
PA
12/50 20 April 2019
Police officers remove a potted plant that was placed in the occupation of Waterloo Bridge in London by Extinction Rebellion protesters
EPA
13/50 19 April 2019
British actress Emma Thompson gives an address from the stage atop the pink boat to climate change activists occupying the road junction at Oxford Circus in central London during the fifth day of environmental protests by the Extinction Rebellion group
AFP/Getty
14/50 18 April 2019
A burning car in Creggan, Londonderry after petrol bombs were thrown at police. Belfast Journalist Lyra McKee was killed during the riots. Police Service of Northern Ireland said that McKee was allegedly shot while reporting on clashes with dissident republican rioters
PA
15/50 17 April 2019
Members of the so called ‘Red Brigade’ march in disobedience on the street from Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus to protest in London. The group Extinction Rebellion is calling for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change
AP
16/50 16 April 2019
Extinction Rebellion demonstrators camp near Marble Arch, London, as more than 100 people have been arrested as police deal with ongoing climate change protests
PA
17/50 15 April 2019
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tries his hand at archery during a visit to Sunnyvale Fishery and Outdoor Activity centre, a youth crime reduction project in Calderdale
PA
18/50 14 April 2019
A woman photographs blossoming tulips in Holland Park
PA
19/50 13 April 2019
Lincoln City’s Bruno Andrade (left) and Shay McCartan celebrate being promoted after their Sky Bet League Two match at Sincil Bank, Lincoln
PA
20/50 12 April 2019
Supporters march during the YouthStrike4Climate demonstration in central London
AFP/Getty
21/50 11 April 2019
The Milky Way and millions of stars over Dinstanburgh Castle in the early hours of the morning. Dunstanburgh Castle is a 14th-century fortification on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton. The castle was built by Earl Thomas of Lancaster between 1313 and 1322
PA
22/50 10 April 2019
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May react during an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels
Reuters
23/50 9 April 2019
England’s Ellen White celebrates after her side go 1-0 up against Spain during their friendly match at the Energy Check County Ground, Swindon. The Lionesses went on to win 2-1
PA
24/50 8 April 2019
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and fellow Labour MPs welcome the newly elected MP for Newport West, Ruth Jones (right), to the Houses of Parliament
PA
25/50 7 April 2019
James Cracknell celebrates after winning the Men’s Boat Race with Cambridge. Former Olympic and World Champion Cracknell, 46, became the oldest entrant in Boat Race history, qualifying after taking up a Master of Philosophy degree in human evolution
Getty
26/50 6 April 2019
Davy Russell, riding Tiger Roll, celebrates winning the Random Health Grand National at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool. He became the first horse since Red Rum to win back-to-back renewals
EPA
27/50 5 April 2019
Activists in hazmat suits and masks stop traffic in west London in a protest accusing authorities of lying after cancer-causing chemicals were found in soil close to Grenfell Tower
PA
28/50 4 April 2019
England football manager Gareth Southgate with the OBE that he received at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London
PA
29/50 3 April 2019
Newborn lambs in a snow covered field near Allendale, Northumberland, after temperatures dipped below freezing overnight. Hill snow, sleet, showers and gales are expected for parts of the UK as the chilly snap keeps hold.
PA
30/50 2 April 2019
Armathwaite Hall hotel in Keswick, Cumbria holds Lemoga classes with the lemurs from Lake District Wild Life Park, who were mingling with the class to create a personal yoga experience which aims to heighten the sense of wellbeing for both lemur and human. With their friendly, outgoing personalities and love for human contact, lemurs make the perfect yoga buddies, helping people to laugh, unwind and stretch away their troubles
PA
31/50 1 April 2019
Fire fighters attend to two police cars that were destroyed after being set on fire outside Goldthorpe police station in South Yorkshire in a suspected arson attack
PA
32/50 31 March 2019
Forensics teams work at the scene of a stabbing in Edmonton in London. Four people have been stabbed in a spate of knife attacks in the north of the capital over the weekend
Getty
33/50 30 March 2019
Workers from the Honda plant in Swindon during a protest march through the town as the car giant will be urged to reverse its decision to close its UK plant
Unite South West/PA
34/50 29 March 2019
Pro-Brexit protesters outside Westminster as MPs voted on a Government motion on the EU withdrawal
PA
35/50 28 March 2019
England football captain Harry Kane is made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the Duke of Cambridge during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace
PA
36/50 27 March 2019
Gallery staff give a final dusting to the ‘Olympe’ sculpture by Aspencrow, modelled on Cara Delevingne and an interpretation of Medusa, as it is unveiled at the JD Malay Gallery in Mayfair, London
PA
37/50 26 March 2019
PD Marci with handler PC Neil Billany, PD Kai with handler PC Jean Pearce, PD Bruno with handler Rob Smith, PD Delta with handler PC Mark Snoxhall, PDSA vet Rosamund Ford, and PD Dave with handler PC Andy Salter at Borough market in London where the dogs were honoured with the PDSA Order of Merit for helping emergency services during the 2017 London terror attacks at Westminster Bridge, London Bridge and Borough Market
PA
38/50 25 March 2019
Britain’s Attorney General Geoffrey Cox arrives in Downing street, London for a cabinet meeting. British Prime Minister Theresa May will today chair a potentially volatile meeting of her cabinet amid reports of an attempted coup by colleagues over her handling of Brexit.
AFP/Getty
39/50 24 March 2019
Workers peeling off stickers left on the Cabinet Office door on Whitehall, London, left by anti-Brexit campaigners after they took part in the People’s Vote March
PA
40/50 23 March 2019
Protesters take part in the Put It To The People March on Whitehall in London. Thousands of protesters gathered for the march from Park Lane to Parliament Square calling for a public vote on the Governments final Brexit deal
Getty
41/50 22 March 2019
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after a news briefing after meeting with EU leaders in Brussels
Reuters
42/50 21 March 2019
The mosque and community centre on Albert Road in Birmingham where a police forensic team are at work after it had its windows smashed with a sledgehammer. An investigation involving counter-terrorism officers has been launched after four mosques in the Birmingham area were attacked overnight
PA
43/50 20 March 2019
Gallery technicians install Edvard Munch’s The Scream at the British Museum in London, ahead of the opening of Edvard Munch: love and angst exhibition, which runs from 11 April to 21 July
PA
44/50 19 March 2019
The ‘tall ship’ William II passes a wind turbine as it sails along the north east coast near Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear after it set off from Blyth in Northumberland on a voyage round the coastline of Great Britain calling at 10 ports en route and changing crews at each stage. The Blyth Tall Ship project is a charity working alongside Blyth community volunteers to recapture the spirit of adventure that was employed in the town to discover the Antarctic 200 years ago and the turbine is part of a pilot field operated by EDF off Blyth which uses concrete float-and-submerge foundations
PA
45/50 18 March 2019
Messenger, the largest bronze cast sculpture in the UK, arrives in Plymouth Sound by barge as it makes its way to be installed outside Theater Royal Plymouth, Devon
PA
46/50 17 March 2019
Flooding in Silsdend, Yorkshire. Heavy rain has caused widespread flooding across the country. Flood warnings remain in place across the UK
PA
47/50 16 March 2019
Police at the scene in Fulham, west London where a 29-year-old man was stabbed to death this morning. The Metropolitan Police said it was called “to reports of a fight in progress” by ambulance crews and arrived on the scene at about 12.27am. The victim was found with stab wounds and died at the scene at 12.56am despite attempts by paramedics and members of the public to save his life
PA
48/50 15 March 2019
Schoolchildren gather around Queen Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace as they take part in a student climate protest in London. Thousands of pupils from schools, colleges and universities across the UK will walk out in the second major strike against climate change this year. Young people nationwide are calling on the Government to declare a climate emergency and take action. Similar strikes are taking place around the world today including in Japan and Australia, inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg who criticised world leaders at a United Nations climate conference
Getty
49/50 14 March 2019
Families of those killed during Bloody Sunday march through Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Public Prosecution Service announced only one former British soldier is to be put on trial in connection with his role in the shootings that left 13 people dead in Derry on 30 January 1972. Families of those killed gathered outside The Museum of Free Derry, yards from where the killings took place, before marching to the city centre hotel to hear the announcement
Charles McQuillan
Getty
50/50 13 March 2019
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, to deliver his Spring Statement. He announced he was slashing the UK growth forecast and warned no-deal Brexit will destroy pledge to end austerity
PA
But she said that in order to investigate Mr Williamson, police would “have to be made party to material [held by the government] and at the present time there is no referral and we are not in possession of that material.”
Just moments earlier during an urgent question in the Commons on the issue, however, the cabinet office minister David Lidington repeated the prime minister’s comments that the matter is now “closed”.
He went on: “The cabinet secretary does not consider it necessary to refer it to the police. We would of course cooperate fully should the police themselves consider that an investigation were necessary.”
During the Commons session Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, said a breakdown in collective cabinet responsibility was partly at fault for the leak.
He said: “Unfortunately what appears to have happened is it has a corrosive quality which starts in the willingness to contradict colleagues over policy issues within the cabinet and then creeps incrementally into a willingness to brief externally on discussions on an increasingly secret nature.
In response, Mr Lidington said he agreed that leaks have had a “corrosive effect”, adding: I do think above all when it comes to National Security Council discussions, and I think this applies to Cabinet too, that there is great merit in the very old-fashioned precept that members should speak with complete candour within the room and shut up when they get outside.”