28 December 2023 , 10:04
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Emily Thornberry has said James Cleverly is “deeply misogynistic” and should be "thoroughly ashamed of himself" for joking about giving his wife a date-rape drug.
The Shadow Attorney General said it was a "really nasty and frightening joke", as she responded: "Ha ha ha. That is not funny." She said Rishi Sunak needs “to have a good hard look” at himself after he decided not to punish the Home Secretary as he “considers the matter closed”. And she called for a general election now to give the public "a chance to get rid of the whole lot of them”.
Asked on Good Morning Britain whether she thought the matter was closed, she said: “It's closed, is it? So the Home Secretary, the person who's supposed to be responsible for the security of all of us and that's half of us are women, hello, is such a misogynist that he thinks that it's okay to make a joke about the idea that he can't have a relationship with women or have sex with women without drugging them first. Ha ha ha. That is not funny. That is a really nasty and frightening joke and he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself.”
Mr Cleverly has been facing calls to resign after the Mirror revealed he joked at a Downing Street reception about spiking his wife's drink with a date-rape drug. He told female guests that "a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night" was "not really illegal if it's only a little bit". His sick remarks came just hours after his Home Office announced plans to crack down on spiking.
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Ms Thornberry said Mr Cleverly is “well out of touch with real people living their lives day to day” if he thinks jokes about spiking are funny. “I have to say if they think the matter is closed, then they need to have a good hard look at themselves. I mean, what it is is we have a Home Secretary who's responsible for the security of all of us," Ms Thornberry said.
"That includes women, hello, that includes young women, that includes young women who if they themselves haven't had their drinks spiked they have friends who have, who feel deeply insecure when they go out because of this."
Speaking to LBC, Ms Thornberry said the public should be able to go to the polls to kick the Tories out of No10. “I think he's deeply misogynistic and half the population are women. I think that we should have a general election and get a chance to get rid of the whole lot of them,” she said. "It's not funny to say I can only have a relationship with women if I drugged them... And if you’re Home Secretary then you are well out of touch with real people living their lives day to day and I think it shows a level of misogyny that I have not seen for a very long time and it's disgraceful.”
Mr Cleverly won’t be punished for his comments, it was confirmed yesterday. Asked about Mr Sunak's stance on the row, the PM's deputy spokeswoman said: "It was right that the Home Secretary apologised for what I understood 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 that the Government is taking to tackle spiking and protect women and girls."
Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence Alex Davies-Jones accused Mr Sunak of having "an absence of leadership, accountability and integrity" in his Government, adding: "The country deserves so much better."
TV star Carol Vorderman hit out on social media at the "'Rohypnol Comedian' Cleverly", as she said Tory MPs often "lash out" at her with "misogynistic insults". Her post came after Tory minister Johnny Mercer accused her and his Labour election rival Fred Thomas of leading "s*** lonely lives". The Veterans' Minister hit out at them after they shared figures revealing a rise in homelessness among armed forces veterans.
He claimed they were "deliberately misleading" the public "because that makes your s*** lonely life feel better". He went on to rant at Ms Vorderman, who he has clashed with before: "No one normal really cares about your view. They think you're mad. I'm changing veterans lives What I came into politics to do."
Ms Vorderman quoted the Mirror's article about the row and said: "Many Tory MPs lash out at me, usually with misogynistic insults. QUESTION: With 'Rohypnol Comedian; Cleverly still in post, do we now have the lowest grade of politician ever?"