Theresa May’s official spokesman has declined to confirm that the Prime Minister has full confidence in international trade minister Mark Garnier, who is the subject of an internal government inquiry into sexually suggestive comments he made to his secretary.
The spokesman said he did not want to pre-empt the outcome of the inquiry being conducted by the Cabinet Office.
Mark Garnier is the subject of an inquiry (Tim Goode/PA Wire)
His comment came as Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom prepared to address MPs on Monday afternoon about allegations of inappropriate and unwanted sexual behaviour at Westminster.
Mrs May’s spokesman said the PM would be present in the House to hear Ms Leadsom’s statement on the issue as well as MPs’ comments in the debate which will follow.
He denied claims that Mrs May was regularly updated by Conservative whips on a dossier of allegations relating to her party’s MPs.
The Prime Minister has offered to hold talks with Speaker John Bercow on overhauling Commons disciplinary procedures amid mounting reports of abusive and inappropriate behaviour towards women.
A list of 13 MPs facing harassment allegations has been circulating at Westminster, according to The Daily Telegraph, as Number 10 again made clear any unwanted sexual behaviour was “completely unacceptable”.
Meanwhile the Guido Fawkes website claimed Tory aides had compiled a spreadsheet of 36 Conservative MPs – including 20 ministers – accused of inappropriate behaviour. The Conservatives declined to comment.
Over the weekend the Prime Minister ordered the Cabinet Office inquiry into whether Mr Garnier had breached the ministerial code over claims he asked his Commons secretary to buy sex toys and called her “sugar tits”.
Asked at a regular Westminster media briefing whether the PM had full confidence in the international trade minister, the spokesman said: “There is an investigation which the Prime Minister has asked for, which is being conducted by the Cabinet Office. Obviously, I can’t pre-empt that investigation.”
The PM is also coming under pressure to suspend Stephen Crabb (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Mrs May was also facing calls to suspend a second senior Conservative, former Cabinet minister Stephen Crabb, after he was reported to have admitted sending explicit messages to a 19-year-old woman he interviewed for a job.
In a letter to Mr Bercow, the Prime Minister said the current grievance system for dealing with complaints by MPs’ staff lacked “teeth” as there was no contractual requirement for MPs to follow its procedures.
“I do not believe that this situation can be tolerated any longer. It is simply not fair on staff, many of whom are young and in their first job post-education,” she wrote.
Asked about press reports of regular meetings with whips to discuss a dossier on MPs’ sexual misbehaviour, Mrs May’s spokesman said: “That is not true, no. There is no dossier and therefore the PM hasn’t seen one.”