By Sammie Jones-
Damian Green- one of Theresa May’s closest allies- has resigned from the cabinet because of an investigation that found he breached the ministerial code.
The former Secretary Of State quit after being found to have made “inaccurate and misleading” statements about what he knew about claims pornography had been found on a computer in his Commons office in 2008. It emerged that both he and his solicitor were fully aware of the fact police had found pornographic material on his computer in 2008 . His position in Government therefore became unsustainable
The investigation into Mr.Green’s conduct was a seven week inquiry into all the detailed allegations against him. The allegations included one of inappropriate conduct towards a female journalist, Kate Maltby and was exposed after being caught viewing pornography on a computer in his commons office. The overture towards Ms Maltby first disclosed in the UK Times Newspaper was highly rebuked and considered morally wrong.
An official report by the Cabinet Office concluded that Mr.Green had lied about being unaware of pornographic material found on his computer. The deception was dubbed “inaccurate and misleading”, and such fell short of the ministerial code.
The report also found that although there were “competing and contradictory accounts of what were private meetings” between himself and Ms Maltby, it found ” Ms Maltby’s account to be plausible”.
The report revealed Mr.Green had previously been told by the Met Police of the existence of the pornographic material, highlighting the ignorance underlying the lie in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
A statement from the report concluded: “These statements therefore fall short of the honesty requirement of the Seven Principles of Public Life and constitute breaches of the Ministerial Code. Mr Green accepts this.”
REGRET
Mr Green expressed his regrets at the call for his resignation which he eventually submitted. He apologised for breaches of the ministerial code.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, he went on: “From the outset I have been clear that I did not download or view pornography on my parliamentary computers.
“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.”
Mrs May said she had “carefully considered” the findings of an investigation by Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood into statements Mr Green made on November 4 and 11, which he has now accepted were “inaccurate and misleading”.
The Prime Minister went on:
“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. That says it all.