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15 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 NOVEMBER 2022 WORLD NEWS RISHI Sunak repeated his 'con- fidence' in Gavin Williamson to- day despite claims the minister told a senior civil servant to 'slit your throat' and 'jump out of a window'. The British PM held a Cabi- net meeting in Downing Street - but there was no sign of Sir Gavin entering the building af- ter a Ministry of Defence offi- cial alleged he 'deliberately de- meaned and intimidated' them. Sir Gavin is believed to have used a back route to get to the Cabinet Room in No10. The 'slit your throat' com- ment was made in front of oth- er shocked civil servants during a meeting when Sir Gavin was Defence Secretary between 2017 and 2019, the official told The Guardian. The 'jump out of a window' remark was made on a separate occasion, they alleged. The official, who later left government, said they report- ed the behaviour to the MoD's head of human resources, but did not make a formal com- plaint. The MoD official claimed Sir Gavin 'shouted and raged', and a senior military official from the department later apolo- gised for not calling out the now Cabinet Office minister. Sir Gavin denied bullying the official but did not appear to deny using the specific words. The PM's official spokesman insisted the minister retained his confidence and Mr Sunak believed the denial, but said they were checking the 'proper processes' to follow. It is understood that discus- sions are ongoing in Downing Street over whether and how the issue should be examined. There has yet to be a formal complaint, but the Propriety and Ethics Team could take charge of a probe. Sir Gavin is already facing an investigation by CCHQ into al- legations he sent expletive-lad- en texts to then-chief whip Wendy Morton about attend- ing the Queen's funeral. Ms Morton's case is also believed to have been referred to the Parliamentary authorities. In a round of interviews this morning, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said it would be 'utterly, utterly unac- ceptable' if Sir Gavin William- son told a senior civil servant to 'slit your throat' and 'jump out of the window'. Stride told Sky News: 'If that is the case, that is utterly, utter- ly unacceptable, but at the mo- ment it is in the realm of media speculation.' Stride said he served in the Whips' Office under Sir Gavin, and saw him as someone with 'this sort of aura or mystique around him'. 'There was always this great aura of… do you remember Cronus, the spider, the taran- tula etc? And the reality with Cronus is he was much touted but he never actually was re- leased to bite anybody. 'So that was how I always saw Gavin – as somebody who had this sort of aura or mystique around him, but the reality was he just generally got on with his job.' THE UK's new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has given his first international speech to world leaders at COP27, the annual UN climate summit. In it he said there was "room for hope" and urged the world to come together in this com- mon cause. Leaders from 120 countries are meeting in the Egyptian re- sort of Sharm el-Sheikh to dis- cuss the next steps in curbing climate change. Although climate activist Gre- ta Thunberg is staying away from the summit, after she ac- cused the UN of "greenwash- ing", many other youth activists are attending. But what else happened on the first full day of COP? Rishi Sunak began his speech at the COP27 climate summit by saying said he believes the world can deliver on its climate promises. Referring to last year's summit in Scotland, the prime minister said: "I believe we found room for hope in Glasgow. He added that he believed the world could deliver the plan that would limit global temper- ature rises to 1.5 degrees. Sunak also stressed that mov- ing away from fossil fuels can deliver jobs in green indus- tries. He also announced that the UK is tripling its funding to help nations adapt to the impacts of climate change. 'We are in the fight of our lives' Earlier the UN's Secre- tary-General Antonio Guterres responded to a new report by the organisation that found that the past eight years were on track to be the warmest on record. The summit opened with him warning that our planet is "sending a distress signal" and that "polluters must pay" for the damage they cause. Key topics due to be discussed at the summit over the next two weeks include compensation and support for the most-affect- ed countries. Some of the world's poorest nations have been worst affect- ed by climate change despite only producing a small percent- age of carbon emissions. They have been wanting richer countries that built their econ- omies on fossil fuels to pay for the impacts of their carbon footprint. But the issue has been highly controversial and hasn't been previously discussed until now. Rishi Sunak stands by Gavin Williamson despite threat of three conduct probes UK Prime Minister gives first speech to world leaders at climate summit A Ministry of Defence official alleged that Sir Gavin Williamson (pictured) 'deliberately demeaned and intimidated' them regularly when he was defence secretary