Title : Deputy PM Damian Green resigns over pornography claims
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Deputy PM Damian Green resigns over pornography claims
- Damian Green last night resigned as Theresa May's deputy PM after sleaze probe
- Ex Police officer Bob Quick said he found porn on Mr Green's computer in 2008
- Friend of Mr Green said the police had 'got their man after a nine-year vendetta'
- MP denies viewing material but accepts denials porn was found is misleading
- Is the third Cabinet minister to quit in 6 weeks after Michael Fallon and Priti Patel
- Mr Green was Mrs May's oldest friend in politics and closest Westminster ally
Theresa May last night sacked her deputy Damian Green after a sleaze inquiry found he had failed to tell the truth about pornography found on his computer.
The Cabinet Office investigation said he had issued two ‘inaccurate and misleading’ statements, denying he knew about the discovery made in a botched police raid on his Commons office in 2008.
Mr Green, 61, who was first secretary of state, became the third Cabinet minister to resign in two months, following the exits of Sir Michael Fallon and Priti Patel.
His fall from high office is the culmination of a decade-long feud with former Met Police chief Bob Quick, who revealed that 'extreme' porn was found on Mr Green's Commons computer during a raid on his parliamentary office back in 2008.
A friend of Mr Green said the police had ‘got their man after a nine-year vendetta’.
Damian Green, pictured with Theresa May at PMQs today, has known he PM since they were at Oxford University together and is one of her closest allies in politics. His departure is a major blow for the PM
The First Secretary of State (pictured outside his house today ) was 'asked to resign' from the Government by the Prime Minister - who he has been close friends with since they were at university together 30 years ago
Former Met Police assistant commissioner Bob Quick (left) claimed he found vast quantities of porn of Damian Green's office computers when he raided his parliamentary office in 2008. An inquiry into Mr Green’s conduct was launched in November this year following disputed claims by Tory activist Kate Maltby (right) that he had made unwanted advances on her
Damian Green, pictured with his wife Alicia, said the allegations against him have been deeply hurtful to him and his family
His departure is a bitter blow to the PM, who relied heavily on her old university friend. In a letter to him last night, she said she was ‘extremely sad’ about his departure.
Sir Alex Allen, Theresa May’s adviser on ministerial interests, said the lack of candour amounted to two breaches of the ministerial code. This left the PM with no choice but to ask her friend of 30 years and deputy to resign.
Mrs May also rounded on the police over the role played by former detectives. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has also condemned the conduct of the ex-officers, which is now the subject of an inquiry.
Mr Quick is said to have never forgiven those he believes sabotaged his high-flying career following his investigation into Mr Green nearly a decade ago.
His simmering fury over the circumstances in which he left the police has seen him dubbed ‘Bitter Bob’ by a number of former colleagues.
The inquiry into Mr Green’s conduct was launched on November 1 following disputed claims by Tory activist Kate Maltby that he had made unwanted advances on her.
The sleaze inquiry said Miss Maltby’s claims were ‘plausible’, but said it was ‘not possible to reach a definitive conclusion on the appropriateness’ of his behaviour.
Miss Maltby last night declined to comment, but her parents, Colin and Victoria Maltby, issued a statement to say they were ‘proud of her’.
They said: ‘We are pleased that the Cabinet Office has concluded its enquiry into the conduct of Damian Green.
‘We are not surprised to find that the inquiry found Mr Green to have been untruthful as a minister, nor to that they found our daughter to be a plausible witness.'
In his resignation letter last night, Mr Green said he did not recognise Miss Maltby’s account of their meeting in a London pub in 2015, when she claims he touched her knee and made suggestive comments.
But he added: ‘I clearly made her feel uncomfortable and for this I apologise.’ Mrs May said Mr Green was right to concede this point.
Damian Green tonight was forced to quit as Theresa May's deputy after he was found to have lied over claims porn was found n his computer
Mr Green is the third cabinet minister to be forced to quit in just six weeks after their careers have been hit by scandal. Sir Michael Fallon and Priti Patel resigned as defence secretary and international development secretary respectively
Theresa May's response to the resignation letter from Mr Green, her closest friend in politics
Mrs May accepted his resignation and wrote: 'I'm extremely sad to be writing this letter, we have been friends and colleagues throughout our whole political lives
His departure robs the PM of her closest political ally. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has been tipped as a possible replacement as first secretary of state, but government sources last night indicated that a reshuffle could be postponed until the new year.
Although Mr Green does not run a ministry he was a central figure, heading a number of Cabinet committees and being a member of Mrs May’s inner Brexit ‘War Cabinet’.
Mr Green was a leading Remainer and his departure will tip the balance in the Cabinet in favour of the Brexiteers.
Brexit Secretary David Davis had urged Mrs May not to allow the police to claim Mr Green’s scalp. Aides insisted he would not be resigning in protest, but many Tories are furious about what they see as a vendetta by former detectives to destroy a serving cabinet minister.
Mr Green (pictured on Wednesday night) said he has been clear he 'did not download or view pornography' but accepted his initial denial of all knowledge there was any porn discovered on the computer had been misleading
In November Sue Gray (pictured left), the director-general of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office, asked officials if there was evidence of attempts to access pornography from computers used by Mr Green since he became a minister in 2010. Kate Maltby is pictured right
Accusations about computer pornography were made by Mr Quick, who ordered the raid on Mr Green’s Commons office.
He was later backed up by another former Scotland Yard detective Neil Lewis, who said he had no doubt that Mr Green himself had downloaded the pornography, which he said ran to ‘thousands’ of images.
The discovery had no relevance to the police inquiry at the time, which was focused on uncovering the source of leaked Home Office material being passed to Mr Green, who was then shadow immigration minister.
It also had no relevance to the claims made by Miss Maltby. None of the allegations related to Mr Green’s time as a minister. But his failure to tell the truth about them broke the ministerial code, which requires office holders to be truthful at all times.
When Mr Quick’s allegations were published last month, Mr Green issued an angry statement, saying: ‘This story is completely untrue and comes from a tainted and untrustworthy source.’
Mr Green said the police had ‘never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer.’
Mr Quick arrested Mr Green, then a shadow immigration minister, and held him for nine hours while his constituency office and home was searched.
The episode sparked a huge inquest at the Commons into whether parliamentary privilege should have protected the material held by an MP.
And just a year later Mr Quick quit as a policeman after being photographed heading into No10 with a security briefing about an undercover operation.
But after a decade of bad blood between the two men, the controversial office rad has finally ended Mr Green's Cabinet career.
Separate allegations Mr Green behaved inappropriately to a Tory activist Kate Maltby were found unproven, but his actions over the porn claims were considered a breach of the ministerial code.
It makes him the third Cabinet minister to quit from Mrs May's top team in just six weeks after ex defence chief Sir Michael Fallon and former international development secretary Priti Patel quit amid scandals.
Mr Quick claimed he found vast amounts of porn on Mr Green's office computer during the police raid and took his allegation to the Government's standards chiefs in early November at the height of the Westminster sleaze scandal.
Mr Green scrambled to deny the claims - insisting in a statement on November 4 that the 'police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my parliamentary computer'.
But while he continues to deny claims he viewed inappropriate material on his office computer, he has now admits police did talk to his lawyers about the allegations back in 2008 and again in 2013.
And it is his original statement denying all knowledge of the porn that has been his undoing and forced him to quit from Mrs May's Cabinet.
In a statement, Mr Green said: 'From the outset I have been clear that I did not download or view pornography on my Parliamentary computers.
'I accept that I should have been clear in my press statement that police lawyers talked to my lawyers in 2008 about the pornography on the computers, and that the police raised it with me in in a subsequent phone call in 2013.
'I apologise that my statements were misleading on this point.
'The unfounded and deeply hurtful allegations that were being levelled at me were distressing to both me and my family and it is right that these are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police's professional standards department.'
The departure of Mr Green, regarded as Mrs May’s closest ally in politics, will be a hammer blow to the PM as she was struggling to get her government back on track.
She had fought for weeks to try and find a way to save him, but eventually decided he must go.
Mr Green’s letter pointedly stayed that he had been ‘asked’ to resign - indicating his desire had been to tough out the storm.
The 61-year-old wrote a resignation letter to Mrs May today and said that he and 'should have been clear' when giving statements about the incident.
He wrote: 'I accept that I should have been clear in my press statement 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.
'I apologise that my statements were misleading on this point.'
Mrs May accepted his resignation and wrote: 'I'm extremely sad to be writing this letter, we have been friends and colleagues throughout our whole political lives.
'From our early days at university, entering the House of Commons at the same election, and serving alongside each other, both in opposition and in government, I have greatly appreciated your hard work and the contribution you have made to my team.'
But she said she asked her de facto deputy to leave the Cabinet after he accepted that statements he put out denying the allegations on November 4 and 11 'were inaccurate and misleading'.
She said this amounted to a breach of the ministerial code.
Mrs May added: ‘While I can understand the considerable distress caused to you by some of the allegations which have been made in recent weeks, I know that you share my commitment to maintaining the highs standards which the public demand of minsters of the crown.
‘It is therefore with deep regret and enduring attitude for the contribution you have make over many years, that I asked you to resign from the Government and have accepted your resignation.’
It is understood Mrs May asked Mr Green to resign after summoning him to Downing Street on Wednesday evening, and is not planning to replace him until the new year at the earliest.
His sacking could pile more pressure on the PM following the resignations in recent weeks of Sir Michael, and Ms Patel as international development secretary over undisclosed meetings in Israel.
Miss Maltby last night declined to comment, but her parents, Colin and Victoria Maltby, issued a statement to say they were ‘proud of her’.
They said: ‘We are pleased that the Cabinet Office has concluded its enquiry into the conduct of Damian Green.
‘We are not surprised to find that the inquiry found Mr Green to have been untruthful as a minister, nor to that they found our daughter to be a plausible witness.
‘We have received many supportive messages from people near and far who appreciate Kate’s courage and the importance of speaking out about the abuse of authority.
‘We join with them in admiring her fortitude and serenity throughout the length of the investigation and despite the attempted campaign in certain sections of the media to denigrate and intimidate her and other witnesses. We are proud of her.
‘We have ourselves known of these incidents since they first occurred and have fully supported Kate in the responsible manner in which she has reported them.’
A nine-year feud and a plot to oust Tory minister
Bombshell claims about the volume of pornography allegedly found on Damian Green’s office computer are the culmination of a nine-year feud between Theresa May’s senior Cabinet ally and former police chief Bob Quick (pictured)
Bombshell claims about the volume of pornography allegedly found on Damian Green’s office computer are the culmination of a nine-year feud between Theresa May’s senior Cabinet ally and former police chief Bob Quick.
Mr Quick, once Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer and who was tipped to become head of Scotland Yard, has never forgiven those he believes sabotaged his high-flying career following his investigation into Mr Green nearly a decade ago.
His simmering fury over the circumstances in which he left the police has seen him dubbed ‘Bitter Bob’ by a number of former colleagues.
It was in March 2008 that Mr Quick – the respected chief constable of Surrey Police, one of the country’s best performing forces – was promoted to head the counter-terrorism and security department at Scotland Yard, where he had started his career 30 years earlier.
But within months, he was facing calls to quit over the hugely contentious decision to arrest then shadow immigration minister, Mr Green, over a series of leaks from Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith’s private office.
Over the previous two years a young civil servant, Christopher Galley, who was working in Miss Smith’s private office, had passed on at least 31 separate documents, some restricted, which exposed government failures on crime and immigration. An enraged Cabinet Office called in Scotland Yard and Mr Quick, an assistant commissioner, headed the secret operation.
Detectives arrested Galley and searched his home. Mr Green was arrested at his home on November 27, 2008, for ‘aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in public office’ by Galley. His Commons office was raided and computers seized for examination.
The arrest of Mr Green and the raid prompted a political storm over whether the police had overstepped their powers. The Tory MP’s lawyers argued that the material seized in the search, including that discovered on his computers, was covered by parliamentary privilege.
Mr Green was held for nine hours while his Commons office, two homes and constituency office, were searched and computers removed. The Tories were livid, accusing Mr Quick of ‘Stalinesque’ behaviour when he approved the arrest of Mr Green.
In the weeks following the arrest it emerged that Mr Quick’s wife Judith was running a car hire firm from their home and details of their address were published on a website.
The Mail on Sunday story carried the implication that Mr Quick, as head of counter-terrorism, was being reckless with his own security.
He hit back, saying: ‘The Tory machinery and their press friends are mobilised against this investigation in a wholly corrupt way, and I feel very disappointed in the country I am living in.
‘It is a very spiteful act, possibly to intimidate me away from investigating Mr Green.’
He later retracted his remarks and made an unreserved apology after the Tory leader, David Cameron, demanded he withdraw the ‘completely baseless’ allegations.
The Tories accepted the apology. But the dispute was far from over and Mr Quick, who was badly damaged by the Green affair, would later complain that the investigation cost him his career.
He quit in April 2009 after being photographed arriving at Downing Street with documents detailing a counter-terror operation clearly visible. He later claimed he might have survived had it not been for the Green controversy.
‘I accepted I wasn’t popular in those quarters,’ he told the BBC. ‘I’d read in newspapers various unattributed comments “We’re going to get Quick”. I guess I wasn’t surprised by that.’
A few days after he resigned, Mr Green was cleared of any wrongdoing over the leaks.
Mr Quick licked his wounds and would later become chief executive of a global risk and security consultancy, which employs a number of former senior Scotland Yard officers.
He returned to the public spotlight in March 2012 when he gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into press standards. He alleged that journalists close to the Tory Party had tried to skew his investigation into Mr Green.
The now notorious porn allegations against Mr Green were contained in a ‘confidential draft witness statement’ he made to the public inquiry.
Last month, at the height of the sex harassment scandal in Westminster, the Sunday Times reported that ‘extreme pornography’ had been found on one of Mr Green’s office computers back in 2008.
Mr Green denied the claim and accused Mr Quick of a ‘disreputable political smear’. The former police chief denied being the source of the Sunday Times story but he did supply a statement to the BBC to confirm the discovery, insisting he bore ‘no malice’.
Mr Quick has since however given evidence to a Cabinet Office inquiry investigating a separate accusation of sexual harassment against Mr Green made by journalist Kate Maltby.
A week after the porn controversy broke, Paul Stephenson, who was Met Commissioner between 2009 and 2011, became the second senior officer to confirm he had been briefed about the alleged discovery on Mr Green’s computer in 2008.
He told the BBC: ‘I regret it’s in the public domain. There was no criminality involved, there were no victims, there was no vulnerability and it was not a matter of extraordinary public interest.’
Earlier this month it was being suggested that Mr Quick had consulted lawyers over the possibility of suing Mr Green, who described the ex-police chief as ‘tainted’ and ‘untrustworthy’.
Mr Quick, it was claimed, wants an apology and a retraction for the attack on his reputation.
May's anger at retired detective who leaked police notes that piled the pressure on Damian Green
By Chris Greenwood, Chief Crime Correspondent
Theresa May last night condemned the retired police officer who leaked the highly sensitive information that piled pressure on Damian Green
Theresa May last night condemned the retired police officer who leaked the highly sensitive information that piled pressure on Damian Green.
Accepting Mr Green’s resignation, the PM said she ‘shared concerns’ at ex-Scotland Yard detective Neil Lewis’s disclosures.
The computer expert had given an interview accusing the de-facto deputy prime minister of browsing pornography online for hours.
His actions sparked a police review as Met Commissioner Cressida Dick made it clear the police duty of confidentiality was for life.
In her reply to Mr Green last night, Mrs May said: ‘I share the concerns, raised once again from across the political spectrum, at the comments made by a former officer involved in that case in recent weeks.
‘I am glad that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has condemned that, made clear that police officers’ duty of confidentiality endures after they leave the force, and that the Metropolitan Police’s professional standards department are reviewing the comments which have been made.’
Police have been accused of a vendetta against Mr Green because of an ill-fated inquiry into Home Office leaks in 2008, which led to senior officer Bob Quick losing his job.
Mr Lewis, 48, is now at the centre of an anti-corruption inquiry and could yet face prosecution for going public with the personal information.
He was one of the 30 officers from the Met’s counter-terror command involved in the raid on Mr Green’s parliamentary office as part of a probe into leaks of Home Office material. It was led by Mr Quick, then Scotland Yard’s assistant commissioner.
Earlier this month Mr Lewis said that, during the raid, he seized and examined a laptop used by the then shadow minister.
He accused Mr Green of being responsible for ‘thousands’ of pornographic thumbnail images retained in its memory. Mr Lewis admitted he had gone public to support his former boss, Mr Quick. It was the appearance last month of Mr Quick’s draft statement to the Leveson inquiry into Press standards that threw Mr Green into the spotlight.
Excerpts were quoted in a Sunday newspaper, but Mr Quick denied responsibility.
It said police had found porn on Mr Green’s computer during the raid and a police officer would have been sacked for having similar material. Former top terrorism officer Mr Quick was accused of harbouring a grudge against Mr Green after the leaks inquiry left his career fatally wounded.
Within months he had quit after mistakenly letting slip details of a counter-terror operation outside Downing Street.
But it was Mr Lewis’s comments that attracted most criticism, after he revealed keeping a police notebook about the inquiry and a copy of the politician’s hard-drive. Chief officers, the police watchdog, legal experts and politicians slammed the gross breach of confidentiality, branding the officer a disgrace. They warned of a ‘police state’ if officers were able to selectively make public highly sensitive information.
Mr Lewis remains under investigation for a raft of alleged offences, including data protection and computer misuse crimes, as well as theft.
He could also be subject to a misconduct inquiry but as a retired officer he could not be forced to attend any hearing so there would be no formal outcome. The Met said the review into the Green leaks was ongoing.
They were legal, but Green's computer had hundreds of porn images, ex-police officer tells BBC
Neil Lewis discussed the contents of Mr Green's computer with the BBC
Neil Lewis: The shocking thing as I was viewing I noticed a lot of pornography thumbnails which indicated web browsing... I was surprised to see that on a parliamentary computer...
BBC’s Danny Shaw: How many images did you see on that?
NL: There were thousands
BBC: Thousands of pornographic images?
NL: Thumbnail images
BBC: How can you be sure that it was Damian Green who was accessing that pornography?
NL: I’ve been in situations where a barrister has said to me in court: ‘So you’re telling me my client has done this?’ And I have to say: ‘Well, no because I wasn’t there.’ But the computer was in Mr Green’s office on his desk, logged in to his account, his name. In between browsing pornography he was sending emails from his account his personal account, reading documents, writing documents and it was just impossible. It was sort of exclusive and extensive. It’s ridiculous to suggest that anybody else could have done it.
BBC: Is it possible that someone could have hijacked the computer or hijacked the account in some way to access pornography in his name on his account?
NL: I can’t imagine it. It would be a very bizarre situation for somebody to hack a parliamentary computer to place pornography. There was also pornography found, internet history found, on a separate machine – a laptop – of a similar nature.
BBC: Is it possible that someone else in the office or who had access to the office had used his machine?
NL: Whoever had done it would have had to push Mr Green to one side to say: ‘Get out I’m using your computer’
BBC: Is it possible that you’ve made a mistake? That perhaps you’ve muddled up two computers? That there’s been a problem with the exhibits... and this is actually a computer that belongs to someone else or has got mixed up in a technical way?
NL: Absolutely no way. I was the one who seized it... I was the one who examined it, photographed it. I deal with computer forensics... I produce digital evidence.
BBC: He’s now in effect deputy prime minister and the idea that he’s accessing pornography on this scale just strikes some people as impossible or absurd. There must be some explanation - someone else has hijacked his account or there’s an error at Scotland Yard or possibly someone’s tried to plant it?
NL: I wish there was. It was shocking at the time when he was shadow immigration minister. I never imagined I’d be sitting here down the line discussing it.
BBC: There was no doubt in your mind that it was Damian Green who had accessed pornography on that computer?
NL: Absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
BBC: You make a statement on what you’ve found to your senior investigating officer?
NL: That’s correct
BBC: Did you mention pornography?
NL: No. No I didn’t. Because it had no bearing on the leak investigation. If there was browsing in relation to leaked documents that would have been relevant.
BBC: So why now in 2017 why are you now coming forward doing an interview?
NL: There was an article in the Sunday Times in relation to Damian Green having pornography on his computer. His outright denial of that was quite amazing followed by his criticism of Bob Quick, my senior officer. So I contacted Bob Quick to offer my support. When I left the place I kept one notebook [on this case].
BBC: Why did you keep that notebook?
NL: Because that was the case that I was uncomfortable with.
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