Green: I can prove ‘sex pest’ claims are rubbish
May’s deputy says he will release ‘friendly’ texts from his accuser
DAMIAN Green was last night preparing to release a cache of ‘friendly’ text messages from a Tory activist in a bid to disprove career-threatening claims that he made inappropriate advances towards her.
Theresa May’s deputy was left furious after Kate Maltby accused him of touching her knee and sending her a ‘suggestive’ text message.
The Prime Minister ordered a Cabinet Office inquiry into the claims against her close ally, which could result in disciplinary action.
But Mr Green, 61, flatly denied the allegation he had made sexual advances towards Miss Maltby, a Tory activist and journalist who is 30 years his junior, saying the claim was ‘untrue (and) deeply hurtful’.
Aides last night said Mr Green had instructed libel lawyers to assess the possibility of a defamation claim against Miss Maltby, whose parents are family friends.
He has told the Cabinet Office he is willing to hand over a string of ‘friendly’ text messages sent to him by Miss Maltby following the alleged incident in 2015 when she claims he touched her knee in a London pub.
A source claimed the text exchanges, which date back to his return to Cabinet in June last year, were ‘all initiated by her’ and had ‘the tone of messages between two friends’.
A former female aide to Mr Green also came forward to say she ‘did not recognise the allegations of inappropriate behaviour’ levelled at him.
Amy Selman, who worked for Mr Green for five years, described him as a ‘professional and constructive boss’, adding: ‘At no time did I feel uncomfortable working for him’.
The fightback came after Miss Maltby, 31, used an article in The Times to accuse him of behaviour that left her feeling ‘awkward, embarrassed and professionally compromised’.
She said Mr Green was an old friend of her parents who she had approached for advice after becoming involved in Tory activism. When they met for drinks, she said he suggested he could help her start a political career, before turning the conversation to the subject of affairs at Westminster.
Miss Maltby said he mentioned that his wife was ‘very understanding’ and she then ‘felt a fleeting hand against my knee – so brief it was almost deniable’.
She added: ‘He was a university contemporary of my mother. He offered me career advice and in the same breath made it clear he was sexually interested. It was not acceptable to me at the time and it should not be acceptable behaviour in Westminster in the future.’
Miss Maltby said she severed contact with Mr Green following the incident and did not hear from him again until May last year when she appeared in a corset in a photo shoot for The Times.
He is said to have sent her a text message saying: ‘Long time, no see. But having admired you in a corset in my favourite tabloid, I feel impelled to ask if you are free for a drink any time?’
She said she ignored the message but contacted him six weeks later congratulating him on his appointment to the Cabinet, adding: ‘As an aspirant political writer it seemed impossible to avoid him professionally.’ Mr Green said yesterday: ‘It is absolutely and completely untrue that I’ve ever made any sexual advances on Ms Maltby.
‘I have known Ms Maltby since she contacted me as board member of Bright Blue, the Conservative think-tank, in 2014, and we have had a drink as friends twice-yearly.
‘ The text I sent after she appeared in a newspaper article was sent in that spirit – as two friends agreeing to meet for a regular catch-up – and nothing more.
‘This untrue allegation has come as a complete shock and is deeply hurtful, especially from someone I considered a personal friend.’
Former Tory minister Anna Soubry yesterday called for Mr Green to be suspended while the Cabinet Office investigation took place.
She told Sky News: ‘The allegation against Damian Green has been reported to the Cabinet Office and there will be an investigation... in normal circumstances, that person would be suspended.
‘Is he placed in a difficult position? Yes, he is. Personally, I would say there is an investigation, by some mechanism you stand down, you remove yourself from this position until the conclusion of that investigation.’
However, Margot James, the minister for small business, told BBC Radio 5 that Mr Green should not step aside.
She said: ‘ No, certainly I don’t think so, but that is obviously up to the Prime Minister, but I certainly don’t think so, no. I’ve read the article in The Times today, and I certainly don’t think that it warrants anyone’s resignation, temporary or otherwise, in my opinion.’
The allegation against Mr Green is potentially damaging at a time when Westminster has been rocked by claims it is a hotbed of sexual harassment.
Trade minister Mark Garnier is already being investigated by the Cabinet Office for a potential breach of the ministerial code after admitting referring to a female assistant as ‘sugar t*ts’ and asking her to buy sex toys for him.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said ministers could face the sack if they were found guilty of behaviour that made junior staff ‘feel uncomfortable’.
Labour said it was unacceptable for Mr Green to be investigated by Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood and called for an independent probe.
A Downing Street spokesman said Mrs May had asked Sir Jeremy to ‘establish the facts and report back as soon as possible’.
‘The allegation is deeply hurtful’