DAVID Cameron’s government has been plunged into fresh embarrassment after a senior minister admitted he had a relationship with a sex worker.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said he ended the relationship with the woman when he discovered the woman’s real job.
In a statement issued to the BBC’s Newsnight, the Tory MP said the seven-month relationship began after they met through the dating website match.com. He added that he ended the liaison in February 2014, four months before he entered government. He insisted: “It has never had any influence on the decisions I have made as Culture Secretary.”
Mr Whittingdale, 56, who is a divorced father of two, told the programme that the relationship began in August 2013 and that the woman was a similar age and lived close to him.
He added: “At no time did she give me any indication of of her real occupation and I only discovered this when I was made aware that someone was trying to sell a story about me to tabloid newspapers. As soon as I discovered, I ended the relationship.
The Essex MP, whose revelation comes after the Prime Minister was dogged by the Panama Papers scandal, added: “This is an old story which was a bit embarrassing at the time. The events occurred long before I took up my present position.”
Mr Whittingdale had led the investigation by MPs into the phone hacking scandal at News International.
He has denied allegations that he privately warned fellow members of the Culture Media and Sport Committee not to compel ex-News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks to testify due to the potential risk that their personal lives would be investigated in revenge
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