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Damian Green resigns as first secretary of state after porn allegations Damian Green sacked as first secretary of state after porn allegations
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Conservative MP Damian Green has resigned as first secretary of state amid allegations that pornographic material was found on his Commons computer in 2008. Damian Green has been forced to resign as first secretary of state after admitting he lied about the presence of pornographic images on his House of Commons computer.
He has been investigated for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a party activist, as well as claims that “extreme” pornography had been found on one of his Commons computers. An investigation by the cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood found that Green’s vehement denials after a Sunday newspaper reported that “extreme” porn had been found on his computer were “inaccurate and misleading”.
Green admitted that his lawyers discussed the pornography with police in 2008 and again in 2013. The Tory MP also apologised to the Times journalist Kate Maltby, who accused the former minister of harassment last month. His departure is a personal blow for prime minister Theresa May, who brought him into Downing Street after her majority was wiped out in June’s general election to help shore up her authority.
Theresa May’s de facto deputy PM had previously denied the claims. In a letter responding to his resignation May said she was “extremely sad” about losing Green from government.
In his letter of resignation, Green wrote: “I accept that I should have been clear in my press statements that police lawyers talked to my lawyers in 2008 about the pornography on the computers, and that the police raised it with me in a subsequent phone call in 2013. I apologise that my statements were misleading on this point. The unfounded and deeply hurtful allegations that were being levelled at me were distressing both to me and my family and it is right that these are being investigated by the Metropolitan police’s professional standards department.” In his resignation letter, Green continued to maintain that he did not “download or view” the pornography; but added that he “should have been clear in my press statements,” that his lawyers were informed about its presence in 2008 – and that he discussed it with the police in 2013.
He continued: “I deeply regret the distress caused to Kate Maltby following her article about me and the reaction to it. I did not recognise the events she described in her article, but I clearly made her feel uncomfortable and for this I apologise.” He added: “The unfounded and deeply hurtful allegations that were being levelled at me were distressing both to me and my family and it is right that these are being investigated by the Metropolitan police’s professional standards department.”
Prime minister Theresa May said she had carefully considered the findings of an investigation by cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood into statements Green made on 4 and 11 November, which he has now accepted were inaccurate and misleading. Heywood was unable to reach a definitive conclusion on separate allegations, made by the Tory activist Kate Maltby, that Green had behaved improperly towards her.
The letter read: “This falls short of the seven principles of public life and is a breach of the ministerial code – a conclusion which has been endorsed by Sir Alex Allan, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests. The cabinet secretary’s report found that Maltby’s account of a disputed meeting was “plausible”; but “with competing and contradictory accounts of what were private meetings, it is not possible to reach a definitive conclusion”.
“While I can understand the considerable distress caused to you by some of the allegations which have been made in recent weeks, I know that you share my commitment to maintaining the high standards which the public demands of ministers of the crown. In his letter, Green said: “I deeply regret the distress caused to Kate Maltby following her article and the reaction to it. I do not recognise the events she described in her article, but I clearly made her feel uncomfortable and I apologise”.
“It is therefore with deep regret, and enduring gratitude for the contribution you have made over many years, that I asked you to resign from the government and have accepted your resignation.” Maltby did not comment publicly on Wednesday evening, but her parents, Colin and Victoria Maltby, released a statement: “We are pleased that the Cabinet Office has concluded its enquiry into the conduct of Damian Green. We are not surprised to find that the inquiry found Mr Green to have been untruthful as a minister, nor that they found our daughter to be a plausible witness
“We have received many supportive messages from people near and far who appreciate Kate’s courage and the importance of speaking out about the abuse of authority. We join with them in admiring her fortitude and serenity throughout the length of the investigation and despite the attempted campaign in certain sections of the media to denigrate and intimidate her and other witnesses. We are proud of her.”
In her letter to Green, May welcomed the fact that he had apologised to Maltby.
The prime minister also used her letter to criticise the conduct of police officers who carried out the raid on Green’s parliamentary office in 2008 when the pornography was discovered – and revealed aspects of the case to the media in recent weeks.
“I shared the concerns raised from across the political spectrum when your parliamentary office was raided in 2008 when you were a shadow minister holding the Labour government to account,” she said. Green’s office was raided as police investigated a series of leaks from inside the Home Office.
Earlier this month, Bob Quick, the former assistant commissioner of the Met, threatened to sue Green after he questioned Quick’s account of the raid.
Following a Sunday Times report claiming there was “extreme” pornography on his parliamentary computer, which quoted Quick, Green issued a hard-hitting statement branding Quick “a tainted and untrustworthy” source, who had been trying for some time to cause him political damage.
The Ashford MP dismissed the porn allegations at that time as “false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty” and “little more than an unscrupulous character assassination”.
May was handed Heywood’s report on Monday, and subsequently sought a second opinion from Sir Alex Allen, the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests.
A summary of the investigation, released by No 10 on Wednesday night, said, “Mr Green’s statements of 4 and 11 November, which suggested that he was not aware that indecent material was found on parliamentary computers in his office, were inaccurate and misleading, as the Metropolitan Police Service had previously informed him of the existence of this material.”
As first secretary of state, Green effectively aacted as deputy prime minister, standing in for May at prime minister’s questions and sitting alongside her on the frontbench in the Commons.
May flies to Poland at the start of a two-day foreign trip on Thursday, and is not expected to replace Green until parliament returns from its Christmas recess in the new year.
She is expected to carry out a wider reshuffle, bringing some of the new generation of Conservative MPs into the cabinet in order to refresh the government.
Green is the second cabinet minister to resign since sexual harassment allegations began sweeping Westminster earlier this year, triggered in part by the revelation of inappropriate behaviour by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Michael Fallon stepped down as defence secretary after admitting he had not met the standards required of the armed forces of which he was in charge, after the journalist Jane Merrick said he had lunged at her after a lunch.
Green has continued to carry out his ministerial duties since the investigation was announced, and colleagues – including Brexit secretary David Davis – supported him in the face of the allegations made by the police officers.
A retired Met detective, Neil Lewis, went public with claims that “thousands” of thumbnail images of legal pornography had been found.
Following Lewis and Quick’s interventions, Cressida Dick, the Met’s commissioner, to say that former officers who speak out about investigations could face prosecution.