Rishi Sunak will not punish James Cleverly over a joke about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug, No 10 has announced.
Downing Street said that the Prime Minister “considers the matter closed” after the Home Secretary apologised for the private remarks.
It comes after the Fawcett Society, a womens’ rights charity, said that Mr Cleverly should resign over the “sickening” comments.
The Home Secretary made the joke at a Downing Street reception, where it was understood that he was talking off the record.
According to the Sunday Mirror, he told guests that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”.
He added that the secret to a long marriage was ensuring your wife was “always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there”.
The comments were made the same day that the Home Office had announced new plans to crack down on spiking.
Asked about them, Mr Sunak’s spokesman said: “It was right that the Home Secretary apologised for what I understand to be comments made during a private conversation.
“The Prime Minister considers the matter closed, and he and the Home Secretary are focused on the action the Government is taking to tackle spiking and protect women and girls.”
The Home Secretary had already apologised for the comments, which his spokesman said were part of a “private conversation” and “clearly meant to be an ironic joke”.
Off the record
Discussions at Downing Street receptions are off the record, but the Sunday Mirror decided to break that convention because of his position and the subject matter.
Labour had criticised the remarks, with Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, saying they were “appalling” and “truly unbelievable”.
Jemima Olchawski, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said the comments should not just be dismissed as male “banter”.
She added: “How can we trust him to seriously address violence against women and girls? We deserve better than this from our lawmakers and he should resign.”
Mr Cleverly, 54, met his wife Susie at university, and the couple have two children. He was appointed Home Secretary last month, having previously served as foreign secretary.
Susie praised her husband’s devotion in an interview with The Telegraph this October as she spoke about her battle against breast cancer.
She said: “James has been amazing. He’s always there for me when he can be.
“When he was appointed foreign secretary in September last year, I’d already had my mastectomy and I’d had the chemo and the horrors of all the side effects. So I was really lucky with that.”
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