British official, ally of May, ousted amid porn scandal

LONDON — A key ally of British Prime Minister Theresa May was forced to resign Wednesday after an investigation concluded he made misleading statements about pornographic images found on a Parliament computer in his office in 2008.

Damian Green, who was ousted as first secretary of state, maintains he did not use pornography on his office computers, but he agreed he had not been forthcoming in statements made about the matter in November.

A report by May’s Cabinet secretary concluded Green had made misleading statements regarding his knowledge about the indecent images found by police.

“I accept that I should have been clear in my press statements that police lawyers talked to my lawyers in 2008 about the pornography on the computers, and that the police raised it with me in a subsequent phone call in 2013,” Green said in his resignation letter, which was made public Wednesday night.

May said she asked Green for his resignation after the investigation concluded he had not been open about the matter.

Green was a vital political ally who acted as a de facto deputy prime minister and supported May in her difficult Brexit negotiations. His removal will cost her an important supporter as she tries to balance competing visions of Brexit within her Cabinet.