No motion can be taken towards James Cleverly over his date rape joke because the prime minister “considers the matter closed”.
The residence secretary has been dealing with calls to stop after joking about placing a date rape drug in his spouse’s drink – hours after the Home Office introduced plans to crack down on spiking.
Mr Cleverly apologised for the remarks however has confronted calls to resign by a ladies’s charity whereas Labour accused Rishi Sunak of an “absence of leadership, accountability and integrity” for failing to take motion towards him.
Asked for the prime minister’s ideas on the remark, his official spokeswoman stated it was “right that the home secretary apologised”.
She added: “The prime minister considers the matter closed and he and the home secretary are focused on the action that the government is taking to tackle spiking and protect women and girls.”
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She stated she was not conscious of Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly having spoken in regards to the incident.
Asked whether or not Mr Sunak was involved about the kind of message the remarks may give to victims of spiking, his spokeswoman reiterated that Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly had been centered on taking “action”, including: “That is why we made sure that existing laws recognise the threat that spiking poses to women and girls.
“And that’s the reason we set out additionally a raft of measures to supply fast assist to victims, alongside obligatory coaching for doormen, investing in analysis for speedy testing kits – all introduced by the Home Office in a bundle simply final week.
“So our focus is on making sure that we are taking the action required to protect women and girls.”
Mr Cleverly made the feedback throughout a non-public dialog at a Number 10 reception.
The residence secretary informed feminine company “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”, the Sunday Mirror reported.
Mr Cleverly additionally laughed that the key to an extended marriage was making certain your partner was “someone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there”.
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Conversations at Downing Street receptions are normally understood to be “off the record”, however the Sunday Mirror determined to interrupt that conference due to Mr Cleverly’s place and the subject material.
Allies of the cupboard minister stated his feedback had been made in a non-public setting however he recognises they had been inappropriate.
A spokesman for the house secretary stated: “In what was always understood as a private conversation, James, the home secretary tackling spiking, made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke – for which he apologises.”
However, his apology was not effectively obtained by the Fawcett Society chief govt Jemima Olchawski, who referred to as it “sickening” that “the senior minister in charge of keeping women safe thinks that something as terrifying as drugging women is a laughing matter”.
She stated: “How can we trust him to seriously address violence against women and girls? We deserve better than this from our lawmakers and Cleverly should resign.”
Labour turned the warmth on to Mr Sunak’s management, with shadow residence workplace minister Alex Davies Jones saying: “The country deserves so much better.
“There is an absence of management, accountability and integrity on this authorities and we’re all paying the worth.”
Source: information.sky.com”