READ: Summary of the Cabinet Secretary's report on Damian Green
3 min read
Read a summary of Cabinet Office report into Damian Green's conduct.
Following media allegations about the First Secretary of State, Damian Green, the Prime Minister asked the Cabinet Office to establish as far as possible the facts of the case and provide advice on whether or not there had been a breach of the Ministerial Code. This statement summarises our conclusions.
The Cabinet Office investigation focused on two main issues: first, allegations by Kate Maltby, who said in an article published in The Times on 1 November that Mr Green had made an unwanted advance towards her during a social meeting in 2015, had suggested that this might further her career, and later had sent her an inappropriate text message. The second relates to public statements made by Mr Green following a report in The Sunday Times on 5 November that during a 2008 police investigation into leaks of official information, which resulted in Mr Green’s arrest, pornographic material was found on Mr Green’s parliamentary computer.
Mr Green publicly refuted in strong terms both Ms Maltby’s claims and the Sunday Times report. The investigation also sought to establish whether, during Mr Green’s
time as a Minister, there had been any suggestion of inappropriate behaviour on Mr Green's part.
The investigation has concluded:
- that Mr Green’s conduct as a Minister has generally been both professional and proper;
- that with competing and contradictory accounts of what were private meetings, it is not possible to reach a definitive conclusion on the appropriateness of Mr Green’s behaviour with Kate Maltby
in early 2015, though the investigation found Ms Maltby’s account to be plausible; and
- that Mr Green’s statements of 4 and 11 November, which suggested that he was not aware that indecent material was found on parliamentary computers in his office, were inaccurate and
misleading, as the Metropolitan Police Service had previously informed him of the existence of this material. These statements therefore fall short of the honesty requirement of the Seven Principles of Public Life and constitute breaches of the Ministerial Code. Mr Green accepts this.
The Cabinet Secretary shared his full report, and the summary of its findings above, with Sir Alex Allan, the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests. Sir Alex also discussed the matter with
the Cabinet Secretary. He has written to the Prime Minister confirming that, while not involved in the investigation, he considers the report a clear and comprehensive account. Based on its account, he agrees with its conclusions, and in particular that Mr Green’s statements of 4 and 11 November represented breaches of the Ministerial Code.
The Cabinet Office investigation has not looked into the 2008 police investigation itself. That is a matter for the police, not for the Cabinet Office; and in any event has no bearing on Mr Green’s ability or conduct as First Secretary of State. Mr Green continues to deny that he viewed the pornography found on his Parliamentary computers and the investigation
reaches no conclusion on this matter.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
