‘Prostitutes entertained City bosses’ at debauched Dorchester do
Minister at dinner fights for job ++ Hospitals hand back donations ++ Club behind event closes amid call girl claims
Theresa May last night condemned ‘appalling’ sexist behaviour at a men-only charity gala that has left one of her own ministers fighting to save his job.
Downing street said reports of scantily-clad female hostesses being flashed and groped at the Presidents Club dinner showed there was ‘a long way to go to ensure all women are treated properly as equals’.
Children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi was struggling to save his career yesterday, after joining 300 guests at the fundraiser in Mayfair’s Dorchester hotel, where they were served by 130 ‘tall, thin and pretty’ waitresses.
It was claimed last night that prostitutes were at the event where billionaires bid up to £400,000 for lots including a night at a strip club, tea with Bank of england governor Mark Carney, and lunch with Boris Johnson.
Yesterday the row over the dinner saw one of the organisers quit a Government job, questions in Parliament, several charities handing back donations and the Presidents Club announcing that it would permanently close. Millionaire Tory MP Mr Zahawi was last night hauled in for a ‘dressing down’ by Chief Whip Julian smith. sources said Mr smith wanted to ‘establish the facts’ about his attendance. a Government source said Mr Zahawi was ‘reminded of his obligations and responsibilities’, adding: ‘he was told it is not appropriate to attend events of this sort.’
a No 10 source said Mrs May was ‘appalled’ by the revelations about the dinner, which were uncovered in an investigation by the Financial Times.
Mr Zahawi was still in post last night. But a senior Tory said he was on ‘very thin ice’. sources suggested he could face the sack if more revelations emerged. No 10 was unable to say whether other ministers had attended the event.
The fundraiser boasted of being the ‘most un-PC event of the year’. It prompted an Urgent Question in the Commons where it was accused of ‘crimes against a decent society’. among yesterday’s developments:
MPs urged police to investigate claims of sexual assault and indecent exposure;
Two hospitals said they would return the charity’s donations;
Presidents Club trustee David Meller quit his roles at the Department for education and the Mayor’s Fund for London;
The Presidents Club announced it would close, as the Charity Commission said it was looking into the allegations;
The Mail has seen diktats from previous fundraisers in which hostesses were ordered never to reveal anything about the night.
Undercover FT reporter Madison Marriage who attended the event described how she and other women were ordered to wear figure- hugging dresses, matching knickers and ‘ sexy shoes’, and women reported being groped multiple times with ‘ hands up skirts, hands on bums … The worst I was told by one of the hostesses was a man taking his penis out … The other one was another man telling a hostess to … rip off her knickers and dance on the table.’ Men asked hostesses to join diners in bedrooms in the Dorchester, it was claimed. a second hostess who spoke anonymously to ITV News said: ‘The men were treating them like sex workers.’ Mr Zahawi tweeted: ‘I do unequivocally condemn this behaviour. The report is truly shocking. I will never attend a men-only function ever.’
But according to BBC Newsnight, he attended before he was an MP in 2010. a senior No 10 source said the minister had told them he left ‘before the hostesses were introduced’. But the FT reporter said the women were
‘Crimes against a decent society’ ‘Women were bought as bait’
introduced as the event began at 8pm. Labour MP sarah Jones said: ‘If it transpires that the minister did not report his concerns and that he was there on previous occasions … he needs to resign.’ Fellow Labour MP Jess Phillips added: ‘Women were bought as bait for men … it is totally unacceptable.’
Mr Zahawi was seen in the Commons talking to education minister anne Milton, who told MPs: ‘It is quite extraordinary to me that in the 21st century allegations of this kind are still emerging.’
Businessman Mr Meller, 58, quit his role as non-executive board member of the Dfe in the wake of the allegations, she added.
Great Ormond street hospital and evelina London Children’s hospital are among causes to have benefited from £20million raised by the Club over more than 30 years. They said they were shocked and were returning donations.
a No 10 spokesman said Mrs May had full confidence in Mr Zahawi, despite being ‘uncomfortable’ with the men- only nature of the event.
AS the most colourful figure in the Government by a country mile, Boris Johnson has long aroused wariness or distrust among many of his colleagues.
So no wonder some questioned his motives when he let it be known he would be pressing the Cabinet to pledge substantial extra funding for the NHS after Brexit.
This was pure posturing, they said, prompted by guilt over the Leave campaign’s rash claim that Brexit could mean £350million a week extra for health.
He knew the Chancellor wouldn’t agree to it, his critics went on. So this was either an empty gesture aimed at furthering Project Boris – or an invitation for Theresa May to sack him so that he could challenge her leadership from the back benches.
The Mail has an alternative theory. Say what you like about Mr Johnson, but he has been the most dogged champion of a meaningful Brexit in a Cabinet dominated by Europhiles, who push for a half-in, halfout deal – the worst of all possible worlds.
So is it just possible that on this occasion, the Foreign Secretary was making a principled stand for honouring the referendum result, in a way in which he could be sure of being heard?
Whatever the truth, Mr Johnson will have struck a resonant chord with the public, who know the NHS needs more money and long for the day we stop shovelling cash into the EU’s insatiable maw.
Indeed, this paper questions whether his colleagues were wise to slap him down for publicising his pitch to the Cabinet.
Leave aside the hypocrisy of Remoaner ministers, who leak like sieves when it suits them. The truth is that, used properly, Mr Johnson could be a great boon to a grey Government – a figure far more in tune with the public than such figures as the funereal Chancellor, who clearly loathes Brexit.
Instead of seeing the Foreign Secretary as a threat, Mrs May should start treating him as an asset. Indeed, it could do her own standing a power of good if she gives his advice on Brexit the hearing it deserves – and acts on it.