TORY MP IN SEX AND COCAINE ‘STING’
Commons probe into harassment claims as father of two is caught on secret tape
A TORY MP who has been suspended from the party over sex and drugs allegations could have been targeted as part of a ‘sting’ operation, senior party sources have claimed.
David Warburton, the MP for Somerset and Frome, is being investigated by the parliamentary harassment
watchdog after a detailed series of images, audio recordings and messages emerged implicating him in unwanted advances to women and the use of Class A drugs.
One picture, which was circulating on Westminster messaging groups and has been obtained by The Mail on Sunday, shows Mr Warburton next to what appears to be lines of cocaine.
The allegations have emerged after the security services warned MPs to be on heightened alert for efforts at entrapment by ‘hostile foreign powers’. In Mr Warburton’s case, it is understood that a possible link between the release of the material and a foreign Communist party is being investigated.
A senior party source said: ‘We take all such allegations extremely seriously, but some aspects of this look like a right old stitch-up’.
Last night, Mr Warburton, a member of the European Scrutiny Committee, said: ‘I have enormous amounts of defence, but unfortunately the way that things work means that doesn’t come out first.
‘I have heard nothing whatsoever from the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. I’m sorry, I can’t comment any further.’
The allegations about the married father-of-two – who has been a Ministerial aide to both the Education and International Development departments – centre on a young woman whom he is believed to have met two months ago.
He is said to have invited himself back to her flat, where he asked the woman to order cocaine. An audio recording is said to have captured the MP saying that £160 for two grams of the illegal drug represented ‘quite good’ value.
According to the woman’s account, she became ‘increasingly uncomfortable’ when the pair were alone together, and says she went to her bedroom to put on her pyjamas to make clear she wanted him to leave. She claims when she emerged, the 56-year-old politician had taken off his clothes, and he then climbed into her bed.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the woman alleges that despite making clear that she did not want to have sex with him, he rubbed against her until he fell asleep. She has not made a complaint to the police.
Two other women, both Commons aides, have claimed Mr Warburton ‘pressurised them into drinking more alcohol than they wanted’, with one claiming that he ‘grabbed her thigh at the British Kebab Awards’.
In another alleged incident, the MP is said to have kissed an aide’s forehead, stroked her hair and placed his hand on her thigh. One of the women has produced texts in which he said: ‘Have some cheeky coke obvs’, while in another he asked: ‘Does your dealer do Westminster Bridge area!?’
The security services have privately warned that an increase in international tensions with countries such as China and Russia could lead to attempts to target MPs who are vulnerable to being compromised.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle also recently urged MPs to be on their guard against approaches by what are privately referred to as ‘foreign actors’, including people with Russian connections.
In February, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said that Russia and China were both desperate to gain a foothold in the Commons by targeting MPs and their advisers. He said: ‘It’s always been the case that people close to the seat of power will be subject to attempted influence. The assertiveness of some of that influencing might be on the rise.’
Earlier this year, the agency revealed an alleged Chinese operative had infiltrated Parliament to interfere in UK politics. MI5 said Christine Ching Kui Lee ‘established links’ for the Chinese Communist Party with current and aspiring MPs. She then gave donations to politicians, with funding coming from foreign nationals in China and Hong Kong.
Mr Warburton was also facing a probe into his financial affairs last night after it was reported that he borrowed £100,000 from Russian businessman Roman Joukovski without declaring it.
Mr Joukovski is a financial adviser who has specialised in providing tier-one ‘golden’ investor visas to foreign citizens, including oligarchs. But in 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority refused to certify him as a ‘fit and proper person’. Nonetheless, Mr Warburton brought the Russian-born British citizen into the Palace of Westminster and used his parliamentary email address to organise meetings for him. Mr Warburton has repaid the loan.
Mr Warburton is one of the first to be probed by the new Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, set up in the wake of a spate of #MeToo scandals in Westminster.
An accomplished musician, Mr Warburton spent time on the Orkney island of Hoy in 1994 studying with the future Master of the Queen’s Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.
Colleagues of Mr Warburton had noticed his dramatic recent weight loss: in January, he posted a photo of his skinny frame, saying he had lost eight stone by ‘lifting weights, cutting out the carbs and switching from beer to gin’.
A Tory whips office spokesman said: ‘David Warburton MP has had the Conservative Party whip removed while the investigation is ongoing.’
‘Some aspects look like a right stitch-up’ ‘Grabbed her thigh at British Kebab Awards’