Brexit minister Mark Garnier 'made his female PA buy sex toys'
3 min read
A government minister made his female personal assistant buy sex toys while he waited for her outside, it has been claimed.
Mark Garnier is also alleged to have embarrassed Caroline Edmondson by calling her "sugar t**s" in front of other people.
International trade minister Mr Garnier told the Mail on Sunday he would not deny the allegations "because I’m not going to be dishonest".
The reports came amid fresh claims of sexual harrassment by politicians at Westminister.
Theresa May has also become embroiled in the brewing scandal, with reports that she is given weekly updates on the sexual indiscretions by Tory MPs - including senior ministers.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Garnier gave Ms Edmondson money to buy one sex toy for his wife and another for a woman working in his Wyre Valley constituency office, in 2010.
The former secretary - who now works for Tory MP John Whittingdale - said: "He suggested to me in a Commons bar one evening that we went shopping for sex toys in Soho. The next day, he said, 'Come on, let’s do it'.
"He took me to Soho and gave me the money to buy two vibrators. He stood outside the shop while I did. He said one was for his wife and the other was for a woman who worked in his constituency office."
She added: "Another time in the bar he said to me in the hearing of others, 'You are going nowhere, sugar t**s'.
"He was worried I was going to go off and work for another MP. It was awful."
Mr Garnier told the paper: "I’m not going to deny it, because I’m not going to be dishonest. I’m going to have to take it on the chin.’
"I hung around outside and she went into this shop. That was it."
He said the "sugar t**s" comment was a humorous reference to popular BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey.
Mr Garnier added: "It absolutely does not constitute harassment."
Meanwhile, former Cabinet minister Stephen Crabb has admitted sending inappropriate text messages to a 19-year-old woman who tried to get a job with him.
It happened before a separate incident involving messages of a sexual nature sent to a different young woman during the EU referendum campaign, which led to his resignation from the Cabinet.
Mr Crabb said: "We exchanged messages which talked about sex but none of it was meant seriously.
"We met for coffee a few times and had a glass of wine once at the Commons, but nothing more. I accept any kind of sexual chatter like this is totally wrong and I am sorry for my actions."
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