A CABINET minister has piled pressure on beleaguered First Secretary Damian Green, saying it was “not acceptable” if he used a House of Commons computer to view pornography.
With a report into his conduct due in days, Education Secretary Justine Greening said it was important to have “high standards” .
Tory MPs have been rallying round Mr Green following claims by two retired police officers that pornographic images were found on his Commons computer during a 2008 investigation into Home Office leaks.
Mr Green, who is also under investigation over claims of inappropriate behaviour towards a woman Conservative activist, has strongly denied using the computer to watch the porn.
Asked whether it was acceptable to view pornography on a workplace computer, Ms Greening said: “There are clear laws. I think most employers would say it wasn’t acceptable.”
Ms Greening declined to comment directly on the investigation into Mr Green, but added: “It is important we have high standards in public life.”
Fellow Cabinet minister, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, however, voiced his support for Mr Green and said it was important to await the outcome of the inquiry by the head of propriety and ethics at the Cabinet Office, Sue Gray.
Ms Greening’s intervention came amid reports that senior aides to Theresa May believe Mr Green, who is effectively her deputy prime minister, should resign to spare the Government further embarrassment.
Her chief of staff Gavin Barwell was among those concerned that, because they were so close politically, it would look as though she was protecting “her mate’s job”.
Ms Greening also suggested that a visit to the UK by Donald Trump was unlikely to be a “positive one” following his retweets of anti-Muslim videos posted online by the Britain First group.
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