May sacks Williamson over Huawei leak

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.”

That could be the career epitaph for the man who once bragged about keeping a tarantula in his office when he was the much feared chief whip.

Gavin Williamson went from fireplace salesman to one of the highest offices in the land. As Defence Secretary he told Russia to shut up and go away and sent a naval vessel to the South China Sea to teach Beijing a lesson.

Now he has been taught the harshest lesson of them all for an unprecedented leak which triggered the collective fury of spy chiefs and political leaders.