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Damian Green urged to step down during pornography investigation Damian Green urged to step down during pornography investigation
(35 minutes later)
Two Conservative MPs have called for Damian Green to step down as Theresa May’s deputy while claims of inappropriate behaviour against him are investigated by the party. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, has called for MPs guilty of harassment or abuse to face potential dismissal from parliament, as Theresa May’s deputy, Damian Green, battled for his political future amid calls for him to step aside.
The suggestion came as the home secretary, Amber Rudd, confirmed that a wider Cabinet Office inquiry into the conduct of Green, the first secretary of state, would look into allegations that pornography was found on his Commons computer. With seven Conservative MPs now facing various investigations or having resigned as ministers, and more allegations swirling, May faces the theoretical possibility of a series of byelections that could sink her precarious minority government.
Green – who vehemently denies any wrongdoing – has become the focus of a wave of allegations of abuse and harassment in Westminster. Two of Green’s fellow Tory MPs said he should give up his ministerial role while he is investigated for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a young activist, and claims “extreme” pornography was found on one of his Commons computers. Green has strongly denied the claims.
Rudd said on Sunday she believed it was time for wrongdoers to be drummed out of parliament. “I think it is something that will take place in terms of clearing out Westminster of that sort of behaviour, and I think Westminster afterwards – including the government – will be better for it,” she told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show. The latter allegation was made by a former senior Met police officer, Bob Quick, who Green has called “a tainted and untrustworthy source”, setting up a potentially destructive battle of words between the pair.
“When we are confident that men and women can work in a respectful environment and people who have been on the receiving end of abuse of power can come forward, that will be a positive thing.” One Conservative backbencher, Heidi Allen, said that someone facing such accusations “in a regular industry” would step aside from their role during an investigation.
“In … the sort of companies I used to work in, that would be completely normal,” she told ITV’s Peston on Sunday, telling Green: “If you’re innocent and you have nothing to worry about, then let the process take its natural course, and the right will come out in the end.”
Another Tory MP, Anna Soubry, said Green should have stepped aside when the claims connected to the activist were first made, which would have meant the later allegations could have been considered as part of that.
“This would have formed part of that inquiry,” she told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show. “Instead we are pretty much having trial by the newspapers. This is not acceptable.”
Rudd said she would encourage a review of harassment in Westminster, which would see May hold talks with fellow party leaders on Monday, to look into a way to dismiss tainted MPs.
“I think that what we need to do is to look at the whole issue. There needs to be a procedure put in place as soon as possible,” she told Sky News.
In a separate interview, Rudd told Marr she believed it was time for wrongdoers to be drummed out of parliament: “I think it is something that will take place in terms of clearing out Westminster of that sort of behaviour, and I think Westminster afterwards – including the government – will be better for it.”
Adding to the pressure on Green, whose title of first secretary of state makes him May’s effective deputy, Rudd said the pornography allegations would form part of the inquiry.
“I know that the Cabinet Office is going to be looking at this tomorrow, along with the wider inquiry about Damian, and I do think that we shouldn’t rush to allege anything until that inquiry has taken place,” she told Marr.
But she defended Green’s decision to stay on as a minister. She told Sky: “He strongly denies these allegations. Let’s give him time, and the inquiry time, to make sure that he has the opportunity to put it straight what he believes was the case.”
The investigation into Green began earlier in the week when he was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a young Conservative activist, Kate Maltby.The investigation into Green began earlier in the week when he was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a young Conservative activist, Kate Maltby.
The Sunday Times also reported that a former Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, Bob Quick, alleged “extreme” pornographic material was found on one of his Commons computers during an inquiry into government leaks in 2008. The Sunday Times also reported that Quick, a former Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, alleged “extreme” pornographic material was found on one of Green’s Commons computers during an inquiry into government leaks in 2008.
Green has strongly denied the claims, calling Quick “a tainted and untrustworthy source”. Quick has denied leaking his statement to the Sunday Times, but said he stood by his claims and had contacted the Cabinet Office to assist with the inquiry.
Speaking on ITV’s Peston on Sunday show, the Tory backbencher Heidi Allen said that someone facing such accusations “in a regular industry” would step aside from their role during an investigation. Also on Sunday it was announced that two more MPs would be investigated by a new Conservative party internal disciplinary system.
“In … the sort of companies I used to work in, that would be completely normal,” she said, telling Green: “If you’re innocent and you have nothing to worry about, then let the process take its natural course, and the right will come out in the end.” Dan Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, and Daniel Kawczynski, who represents Shrewsbury, have been referred after complaints were made against them. Both deny any wrongdoing.
Anna Soubry, another Conservative backbencher, said Green should have stepped aside when the first claims were made, which would have meant the later allegations could have been considered as part of that. The complaint about Poulter comes from another Tory MP, Andrew Bridgen, who wrote in the Sunday Times that he had chosen to “call out the alleged inappropriate behaviour”. Bridgen said he had complained to Conservative whips in 2010.
“This would have formed part of that inquiry,” she told Marr. “Instead we are pretty much having trial by the newspapers. This is not acceptable.” The investigation of Kawczynski follows claims by Channel 4 News that the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham sought to pressure a female researcher for another Tory MP to go on a date with a wealthy friend, who had seen her in parliament.
Rudd said the pornography allegations would form part of the inquiry: “I know that the Cabinet Office is going to be looking at this tomorrow, along with the wider inquiry about Damian, and I do think that we shouldn’t rush to allege anything until that inquiry has taken place.” It means that three MPs will now be investigated under the process, announced by Theresa May last week. Stephen Crabb, the former pensions secretary, was referred on Saturday after admitting he sent suggestive text messages to a teenager.
More generally, Rudd said, the abuse claims were part of “a wholesale change taking place”. Another Tory MP, Charlie Elphicke, has been suspended by the party following serious allegations that have been passed to the police.
She said: “What we’ve seen is the abuse of power in particular, and the widespread cultural change that needs to take place as we recognise that. And we will be recognising that. We are going to be making changes and it has to stop.” The defence secretary, Michael Fallon, resigned last week amid claims of inappropriate behaviour, while the junior trade minister Mark Garnier is, like Green, being investigated by the Cabinet Office.
There is pressure on May to explain whether she had been told about any of the claims earlier, and what her whips might have told her.
Last week the PM promoted her chief whip, Gavin Williamson, to replace Fallon. Her chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, spent two years as a whip while in parliament.
However, Rudd rejected the idea that the Tory whips’ office kept a dossier of MPs’ misdeeds that it used to enforce discipline.However, Rudd rejected the idea that the Tory whips’ office kept a dossier of MPs’ misdeeds that it used to enforce discipline.
“I was a whip myself and I don’t recognise some of those more lurid stories that are told about the short of things whips knew and did,” said Rudd, who was a junior whip briefly in 2013 and 2014. “That isn’t the parliament I know. That isn’t the whips’ office where I worked.” “I was a whip myself and I don’t recognise some of those more lurid stories that are told about the sort of things whips knew and did,” said Rudd, who was a junior whip briefly in 2013 and 2014. “That isn’t the parliament I know. That isn’t the whips’ office where I worked.”
As well as Green, the Conservatives are investigating two MPs, Dan Poulter and Charlie Elphicke; allegations against the latter have been passed to police. The defence secretary, Michael Fallon, resigned last week amid claims of inappropriate behaviour.
On Sunday it emerged that Fallon’s resignation came after the journalist Jane Merrick told Downing Street he had lunged at her and attempted to kiss her on the lips in 2003 after they had had lunch.
Soubry told Marr that Merrick had initially contacted her and the Labour MP Harriet Harman, before she spoke to No 10.
Soubry said: “To be very clear about this, we cannot have, today, this going on any longer. People must have, today, a system where they don’t have to go to the press in order to make their complaint or happen to find some MP’s telephone number they know will take these matters seriously.”
Labour also faces allegations about several MPs, including Kelvin Hopkins, who was suspended last week over allegations that he rubbed himself against an activist during a hug and sent her inappropriate text messages. The party is under pressure to explain why the Luton North MP was later promoted to the shadow cabinet.
Dawn Butler, the shadow equalities minister, told Marr that while she could not discuss individual cases, MPs would only be promoted if whips told the leader’s office any complaints or issues had been sorted out.
She said: “If there was an issue and the issue has been resolved, that’s the end of the matter. If there’s an issue and it’s ongoing, that’s something very different.” This would suggest “both sides were happy with the outcome”, Butler said.
However, the activist involved, Ava Etemadzadeh, has said she was dismayed when she learned Hopkins had become a shadow minister.