The Whitehall inquiry into First Secretary of State Damian Green has been widened to look at allegations that pornographic material was found on one of his parliamentary computers, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said.
Mr Green, who is effectively Prime Minister Theresa May’s deputy, has strongly denied the claims and called them a political smear.
The Sunday Times reported that ex-Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Bob Quick alleged the material was discovered by officers during an inquiry into government leaks in 2008.
Mr Green is already the subject of a Cabinet Office inquiry after a woman alleged that he made inappropriate advances to her, claims the First Secretary of State denies.
Ms Rudd told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “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.”
Asked if the Government would collapse if Mr Green was forced to resign, the Home Secretary said: “Absolutely not.”
Tory MP Heidi Allen joined fellow Conservative Anna Soubry in urging Mr Green to stand down while the inquiry takes place.
She told ITV’s Peston on Sunday: “In … the sort of companies I used to work in, that would be completely normal. 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.”
Mr Quick, who headed the leak investigation, told the newspaper that officers reported finding “extreme porn” on a parliamentary computer from Mr Green’s office.
The First Secretary of State said: “This story is completely untrue and comes from a tainted and untrustworthy source.
Amber Rudd said the Cabinet Office would look into the allegations (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
“I’ve been aware for some years that the discredited former assistant commissioner Bob Quick has tried to cause me political damage by leaking false information about the raid on my parliamentary office.
“No newspaper has printed this story due to the complete lack of any evidence.
“It is well known that Quick, who was forced to apologise for alleging that the Conservative Party was trying to undermine him, harbours deep resentment about his press treatment during the time of my investigation.
“More importantly, the police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer, nor did I have a ‘private’ computer, as has been claimed.
“The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable political smears from a discredited police officer acting in flagrant breach of his duty to keep the details of police investigations confidential, and amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination.”