James Cleverly's gaffe-filled 42 days as Home Secretary - swearing to sick joke
James Cleverly has only been Home Secretary for 42 days but he’s already developing a reputation for being gaffe-prone.
The Cabinet minister has been branded “Colonel Calamity” by Tory MPs as he goes from crisis to crisis. Within his first days in the job he endured a series of excruciating TV and radio appearances as he was grilled on things he’s alleged to have said behind closed doors.
Now he’s facing calls to resign as a minister after he made a joke about giving his wife a date-rape drug. The Mirror revealed that he told female guests at a Downing Street event that "a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night" was "not really illegal if it's only a little bit". The Fawcett Society said the Tory Cabinet minister could not be trusted to "seriously address violence against women and girls".
Mr Cleverly was moved to the Home Office last month after David Cameron replaced him as Foreign Secretary.
Here we take a look at his gaffe-filled first few weeks in charge of the Home Office.
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Rwanda plan is ‘batsh**’
In his first week in the job, Mr Cleverly was left squirming as he was grilled about claims he described the Rwanda migrant deportation plan as "batsh**". The Tory minister is alleged to have made the comment privately after the scheme was first announced.
As he made one of his first appearances in the Commons as Home Secretary his Labour counterpart Yvette Cooper told MPs: "I don't believe the new Home Secretary ever believed in the Rwanda plan. He distanced himself from it and his predecessor's language on it. He may even on occasion have privately called it 'bats***'."
In an interview with BBC Breakfast's Charlie Stayt, Mr Cleverly said: "I don't remember, I certainly don't remember saying anything like that." He described it as "Parliamentary theatre" as he tried to deflect. Asked about it on Sky News, he said: "I don't recognise that phrase.”
Stockton is a ‘sh**hole’
Just a few days later, the Home Secretary faced a similar row as he was accused of calling a Labour MP's constituency a "s**thole" after he raised the issue of poverty in his area during Prime Minister's Questions.
Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham asked Rishi Sunak: "Why are 34% of children in my constituency living in poverty?" A heckle could then be heard in the Commons chamber, with several Labour MPs claiming Mr Cleverly shouted: “Because it’s a sh**thole.”
His spokesman denied the claim, saying : "He did not, and would not. He’s disappointed they would accuse him of doing so."
A day later his aides insisted that he had actually been insulting Mr Cunningham and calling him a "sh** MP". His spokesman said: “James made a comment. He called Alex Cunningham a sh** MP. He apologises for unparliamentary language. As was made clear yesterday, he would never criticise Stockton. He’s campaigned in Stockton and is clear that it is a great place.”
Tory Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen had just minutes earlier hit out at the "childish and unprofessional" language and said Mr Cleverly had dragged the Stockton's "name through the mud".
Revolt over Rwanda interview
Mr Cleverly faced an angry backlash from Tory MPs after he described the Rwanda plan as “not the be all and end all” in his first newspaper interview in the job. He told The Times that people should not “fixate” on the Government’s flagship scheme.
And in remarks that particularly irked some of his colleagues, he also warned against “hyperbole” in discussions around overall levels of migration.
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Tory former Cabinet minister Simon Clarke retweeted a warning by one pollster that the Tories face an “electorally existential migration challenge”. “No hyperbole here,” he added.
Another Conservative backbencher told the Telegraph : “James Cleverly clearly doesn’t get how important immigration is as an issue to people. Describing the words that some colleagues have used as hyperbole shows a complete disregard for the concerns of voters.”
Migrant visa U-turn
Tory MPs last week accused the Government of “weakness” after the Home Secretary was forced into an embarrassing climbdown on migrant visas.
The Home Office quietly watered down plans to sharply increase the earnings threshold for Brits bringing family members to the UK to £38,700 from £18,600 next spring. Instead it will now increase to £29,000 with no timetable set for the higher figure. The decision to water down the policy came just 48 hours after MPs had vacated the Commons for the Christmas break.
Tory MP David Jones, deputy chairman of the right-wing European Research Group, said the decision was a “regrettable sign of weakness”. He added: "The latest net migration figures very starkly showed the extent of the crisis we face. Increasing the threshold was absolutely necessary to address that crisis. The Government should have stuck to its guns.”
Jonathan Gullis, a former Tory minister, said he was "becoming increasingly frustrated" and hit out at ministers for sneaking out the announcement during the Christmas period. He added: "I think for those voters they'll just be deeply disappointed that they've heard the rhetoric, they've not seen them [ministers] follow through with the delivery."
Date-rape drug joke
Mr Cleverly is now in trouble after he joked about giving his wife a date-rape drug, just hours after announcing a crackdown on the growing epidemic of drinks spiking.
The top Tory told female guests at a No10 reception that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”. Mr Cleverly also laughed that the secret to a long marriage was ensuring your spouse was “someone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there.”
He said he realised he sounded like he was promoting “spiking”. His spokesman brushed aside his comments as “an ironic joke” But Mr Cleverly’s disgusting jibe came on the same day he vowed to strengthen the law to give spiking victims the confidence to come forward.
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Women's rights campaigners have demanded that Mr Cleverly resign as Home Secretary. The Fawcett Society said the Tory Cabinet minister could not be trusted to "seriously address violence against women and girls".
Conversations at Downing Street receptions are usually understood to be “off the record”. The Sunday Mirror decided to publish what Mr Cleverly said because we believe these are exceptional circumstances given his role as Home Secretary and the subject matter. It is our duty to inform readers of what was said by the minister responsible for crime.
Mr Cleverly’s spokesman said: “In what was always understood as a private conversation, the Home Secretary made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke – for which he apologises.”
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