LEADSOM: I WAS VICTIM OF FALLON’S VILE SEXISM
May’s old rival is accuser who brought down Defence Secretary ++ She told PM of his ‘unwanted attention’
SIR Michael Fallon was forced to quit after Cabinet colleague Andrea Leadsom complained about his behaviour, it emerged last night.
Tory sources said Mrs Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, complained directly to Theresa May about ‘vile’ language used by Sir Michael towards her at a parliamentary meeting six years ago. The former Defence Secretary is said to have told Mrs Leadsom, who had complained of cold hands: ‘I know where you can put them to warm them up.’
Sir Michael is alleged to have been ‘tactile’ and put his arm around Mrs Leadsom in what a source described as ‘unwanted attention’.
He is also said to have made derogatory comments of a sexual nature about other MPs, as well as members of the public who had attended select committee meetings. A source close to Sir Michael said: ‘He categorically denies saying something as appalling as he knows where she could warm her hands.’ The revelations came as:
Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins was suspended following claims he sent inappropriate text messages to a 24-year-old activist;
Commons Speaker John Bercow called on party leaders to produce plans to tackle sexual harassment;
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson
called on Mrs May to ‘clear the stables’ at the top of the party.
Mrs Leadsom’s complaint is said to be central to the Prime Minister’s decision on Wednesday night that Sir Michael should resign.
The sensational revelation that one senior Tory politician asked Mrs May to sack another will fuel fears that the Westminster sex scandal could tear the Government apart. It also forced the PM to choose between her former leadership rival, who she had planned to sack after the last election, and Sir Michael, who was one of her closest allies.
And it led to the departure of one of the Government’s most experienced ministers, who was tipped as a possible caretaker leader.
Mrs Leadsom made the allegation to Mrs May on Monday. Hours later, with the PM sat beside her in the Commons, she told MPs that ministers should face the sack if they were found guilty of behaviour that made women ‘feel uncomfortable’.
Her intervention sparked a series of crisis meetings in which Mrs May, chief whip Gavin Williamson – the new Defence Secretary – and Downing Street chief of staff Gavin Barwell tried to establish the truth and agree a way forward with Mrs Leadsom and Sir Michael. Mrs Leadsom’s complaint is said to focus on comments made by Sir Michael at meetings of the Commons Treasury select committee. He is said to have made ‘vile’ and ‘inappropriate’ personal remarks to her as well as sexist remarks about other women.
Mrs Leadsom declined to comment last night. Downing Street also refused to comment on the claims.
Defence sources acknowledged that Sir Michael had made sexist references about other women’s looks in Mrs Leadsom’s hearing, but denied he made the specific remark attributed to him.
The allegations discussed by Mrs May and Mr Williamson were supposed to remain a closely guarded secret to prevent them destabilising the Government.
But several sources last night confirmed details of Mrs Leadsom’s complaint.
Sir Michael admitted on Monday evening that he had touched the knee of journalist Julia HartleyBrewer at a boozy dinner at the 2002 Tory party conference. Miss Hartley-Brewer said she had not regarded the incident as ‘anything but mildly amusing’.
Former Tory minister Anna Soubry yesterday said anyone with a brain knew that ‘ Kneegate’ was not the reason for Sir Michael’s resignation.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith also urged Mrs May to get tough with any politicians whose personal conduct threatened the reputation of the Government, saying she needed to ‘rule with a rod of iron’ to prevent the scandal spiralling out of control.
He said: ‘I’m told reliably that Theresa May really does see this as a change moment and she wants to make sure of this.
‘It is critical for Theresa May to rule this thing with a rod of iron over where we are right now. She has to give the lead on this now and say we won’t tolerate this, nobody else should tolerate it...’
Mr Duncan Smith added: ‘It is time for us to say in any institution this kind of abuse of power cannot in future be tolerated.’
Speaking after a meeting with Mrs May, Miss Davidson said a clearout ‘is going to (happen) and needs to happen in the next few weeks, months and years’. She added that the PM was going to need ‘some pretty big shovels for the Augean Stable’ – a reference to the mythical task set for ancient Greek hero Hercules.
But some Tories believe they could face a witch-hunt in which relatively minor indiscretions lead to career-ending sanctions.
Boris Johnson was cornered by the BBC yesterday and asked whether his personal conduct had always met the standard expected of Cabinet ministers. He said curtly: ‘You bet.’
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling urged caution, saying: ‘This is not about clearing out stables.’ Mr Grayling said the departure of Sir Michael was ‘a great shame’ but said the priority now was to introduce procedures to make it easier for victims of sexual harassment and bullying in politics to come forward.
Miss Davidson yesterday said she had discussed with the Prime Minister the idea of introducing a new ‘code of conduct’ for all elected politicians and party officials.
The proposal would go much further than the plan for a new grievance procedure for staff at Westminster which has been floated by Mrs May this week.
Miss Davidson said reforms should go well beyond dealing with individual complaints and tackle the ‘locker-room culture’ in politics.
‘The dam has broken on this now, and these male-dominated professions, overwhelmingly male-dominated professions, where the boys’ own locker-room culture has prevailed, and it’s all been a bit of a laugh, has got to stop,’ she said.
The crisis has plunged some Tory MPs into despair. Veteran Tory Gary Streeter said the situation was similar to the mid-1990s when John Major’s government was falling apart. In a message on Twitter, he said: ‘It feels increasingly like the 1992-97 parliament: no majority, no money, ripping ourselves apart over the EU.
‘That lasted five years. Oh dear.’
‘PM has to say we won’t tolerate this’
ARTICULATE and loyal, an impressive media performer and ardent Thatcherite, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon is a great loss to the Government front bench.
No-one could doubt his passion for his brief, nor his determination to protect military spending – and thus the defence of the realm – against Treasury cuts.
But perhaps his most significant legacy was to end the pernicious witch-hunt of members of our Armed Forces in Iraq by ambulance-chasing lawyers.
In an era of regrettably few, he was an authentic Big Beast. Nevertheless, as he admitted in his resignation letter, his behaviour fell below the ‘high standards’ expected of his officers and men, and he chose to do the honourable thing.
With the revelation last night that he was brought down by allegations from a fellow Cabinet minister, Andrea Leadsom, the story of his downfall took an extraordinary twist.
Meanwhile, in the febrile atmosphere now gripping Westminster, the widespread assumption is that one scalp is only the first of many, a dangerous idea which risks tarring all politicians with the same brush.
Indeed, since the infamous list of more than 40 names of Tory MPs became public, a great many of its accusations have proved little more than unsavoury.
The case that has genuinely shocked – that of a 19-year-old Labour activist whose alleged rape was covered up by high command – is getting little attention.
Worse, as the names and accusations fly around irresponsible social media sites – who still refuse to take them down – entirely innocent people are having their names dragged through the mud.
As we argued yesterday, it is important to keep a sense of proportion. Brexit is an enormous challenge for our political class – and the sooner the Commons gets down to the serious business of making it happen, the better.