Michael Fallon’s warning to the Prime Minister as he quits as Defence Secretary amid sex scandal as pals say he becomes ‘Jekyll and Hyde on booze’
DEFENCE Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has sensationally resigned after admitting there could be more allegations about his inappropriate behaviour.
The Cabinet minister, 65, told Theresa May his past conduct had “fallen below the high standards” he asked of troops he presided over.
Meanwhile, Fallon's allies last night blamed booze for making him a “Jekyll and Hyde” character with women.
Sources say he also warned the Prime Minister he "couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be more stories."
His decision was sparked by The Sun’s revelation on Tuesday that he repeatedly felt the knee of radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer under a dinner table.
He is the most high-profile casualty yet of the Westminster sex harassment scandal. His shock departure at 7.30pm last night plunged the Government into crisis.
The Sun understands Sir Michael, a minister since 1990, had spent the 48 hours after our knee-groping allegations contemplating his past behaviour. He delivered his resignation letter to the PM in person yesterday afternoon.
A source said he told her he “couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be more stories like Julia Hartley-Brewer”.
It is understood Sir Michael accepted his past behaviour towards women was overly flirtatious.
The Defence Secretary became the first minister to quit in the sex-pest row sweeping Westminster. Mrs May did not try to persuade him to stay on.
Last night she pulled out of a political awards bash to handle the fallout of the crisis.
Married dad-of-two Sir Michael, 65, was also last night accused of calling journalist Bryony Gordon a “slut” in a bar in 2014.
Sources confirmed he had been drinking and apologised for using a “wrong phrase”. They denied he called her a “slut”.
And a friend of Sir Michael told the BBC: “Alcohol is a power drug which turns some into a Jekyll and Hyde.”
It is understood he has accepted his past behaviour towards women was overly flirtatious, and would be seen as unacceptable in the current climate.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg reported that several women had approached No10 with concerns about Sir Michael yesterday afternoon.
But Government sources denied any new allegations had emerged.
A SCANDAL IN WESTMINSTER
BOMBSHELL claims have seen dozens of MPs accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Tory aides compiled a list of 36 Tories accused of lurid behaviour — including six cabinet ministers — while a Labour activist has claimed a senior party official told her not to report that she had been raped by a colleague as it may damage her career.
It has emerged that there is a secret WhatsApp group used by women working in Westminster who use it to warn each other about MPs with a reputation for sexually inappropriate behaviour.
Members of the group include parliamentary researchers, secretaries and aides who claim that politicians on both sides of the house have had sex in their offices, indecently pestered members of staff and subjected female workers to sexist nicknames.
Specific allegations include a cabinet minister groping people at drinks parties, a Labour MP groping a woman while on a foreign trip, and a parliamentarian aggressively pursuing female juniors.
A Tory grandee has allegedly been banned from hiring young "leggy" women to work for him and others politicians have been demanding affairs with female staff.
Others close to Sir Michael insisted his behaviour never amounted to sexual harassment or any form of criminality.
Sir Michael, who became a minister in 1990, said in his letter: “In recent days allegations have been made about MPs’ conduct, including my own.
“Many of these have been false, but I realise that in the past I have fallen below the high standards that we require of the Armed Forces which I have the privilege to represent.
“I have therefore reflected on my position in Government and I am resigning as Defence Secretary.
“It has been a privilege to have served as Defence Secretary for the last three and half years, and I have nothing but admiration for the professionalism, bravery and service of those men and women who keep us safe.”
The Armed Forces have a strict “no touching” rule which would have been uppermost in Sir Michael’s mind, an ally revealed.
Mrs May last night thanked her friend for his “diligent service” over a “long and impressive ministerial career”.
She said she appreciated “the characteristically serious manner in which you have considered your position”.
Mrs May wrote: “As Secretary of State for Defence since July 2014, you have championed our brave armed forces and made sure that the Government has been able to fulfil its most fundamental responsibility: the defence of the realm.
"You should take particular pride in the way the United Kingdom has risen to the challenge of tackling the barbaric threat of Daesh.”
Sir Michael was one of Mrs May’s strongest supporters in Cabinet, and backed her early in the 2016 Tory leadership contest.
On Monday night, he confessed to The Sun that he inappropriately touched Julia’s knee in 2002.
Sir Michael said he had apologised and that both considered the matter closed.
Julia told Sky News last night: “I’m assuming there are more allegations. I doubt very much this is a result of my knee.
“If it is then it is absurd and crazy. If there’s something else to come out then (resigning) is the right decision.” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the news was “amazing”.
Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said: “This weak and wobbly Tory government is unravelling by the hour.”
Bringing ministers to their knees?
Listen to Julia Hartley-Brewer
from 10am on talkRADIO on DAB, via the talkRADIO app or online at
Lib Dem chief whip Alistair Carmichael added: “Theresa’s May Cabinet is falling apart like a cheap piece of flat-pack furniture.”
Speaking at the Spectator magazine’s awards last night, Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson urged Mrs May to clamp down on sleaze.
Ms Davidson said: “Just because we have a woman at the top of the tree doesn’t mean sexism is consigned to the dustbin of history.
“The house clearing that is about to happen is needed to make sure things never return to how they were before.”
Two Tory Ministers yesterday said they had been unfairly included in the dossier naming Westminster sex pests.
Justice Minister Dominic Raab said he has taken legal advice over “false and malicious” claims made against him.
Foreign Office Minister Rory Stewart said a reference to him on the list was “completely untrue and deeply hurtful”.
Last night former parliamentary intern James Greenhalgh claimed to have been groped by an ex-MP while looking at a painting in Westminster in 2012.
Rookie's accused
A ROOKIE Tory is the latest to be branded a sex predator despite being an MP for four months.
He is on an updated list of 44 alleged Westminster sex pests seen by The Sun.
The MP was accused of “unwanted physical advances on a female”.
Another male MP, elected in 2015, has been warned by whips against his “inappropriate advances on young female researchers”.
Both MPs refused to comment on the claims.
From 'safe pair of hands' to out on his ear
By STEVE HAWKES, Deputy Political Editor
SIR MICHAEL FALLON’s stunning resignation marks an incredible fall for a Cabinet heavyweight tipped just days ago as a possible interim PM.
The Defence Secretary was famed as a “safe pair of hands” – someone to lead a counter attack whenever the Government was plunged into a crisis.
He was dubbed ‘Minister for the Today Programme’ in honour of his firefighting role in dealing with the press after David Cameron made him deputy leader seven years ago.
But last night the constant rumours that have circulated in Whitehall corridors about his inappropriate sexual behaviour for years finally caught up with him.
And the shock fall from grace for the widely respected Sevenoaks MP plunges a party he has spent a lifetime defending into outright turmoil.
The decision will have been deeply wounding for Theresa May not just because of the hole it leaves in the Cabinet – but also the bond built up over 30 years.
Sir Michael helped campaign for the young Mrs May when she fought an ultimately doomed bid for the seat of North-West Durham in 1992.
Sir Michael had been elected down the road in Darlington in a by-election in 1983, and went onto to serve under Margaret Thatcher then Sir John Major as a Minister in the Department for Education between 1990 and 1992.
He was one of a small number of Conservatives who tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade his first Prime Minister not to resign.
He was out himself a year after in 1992 when Labour’s Alan Milburn took his seat. But after a five year spell in the private sector, Sir Michael bounced back and became Westminster’s great “survivor”.
Winning in the Tory safe seat of Sevenoaks in 1997 he rose to fame on the backbenches and was rewarded with the role of vice chairman by David Cameron in 2010.
After spells as Business Minister and Energy Minister he finally earned his big promotion – to Defence Secretary – three years ago.
He was handed the prized job despite Mr Cameron’s vow to rid his top team of “pale, male” older figures.
Despite initial scepticism, he has revelled in the role, arguing with passion for the Government to go above and beyond the NATO defence spending goal of 2 per cent and spend more on our troops.
He has vowed that soldiers who served in Northern Ireland will not be allowed to be hounded in the same way as Iraqi veterans.
And he has also led the charge against Vladimir Putin’s growing aggression – repeatedly telling the ‘Russian bear’ to keep “its paws” out of the UK’s international affairs.
Most memorably, the 65 year-old took the fight to Labour over bombing IS militants in Syria – and has repeatedly insisted the terrorists’ Western recruits are “legitimate targets”.
When the Sun revealed White Widow Sally Jones had been killed in Syria, Mr Fallon said ISIS fighters were at risk of being hit “every hour of every day”.
His bruising style has got him in trouble before.
Wheeled out by the Tory election maestro Lynton Crosby in 2015, Sir Michael said the way Ed Milband had “stabbed” his brother in the back showed he could “stab the United Kingdom in the back to become Prime Minister”.
But in a sign of the respect in which he is held, bookies believed Theresa May could make him Chancellor in a possible reshuffle.
After losing to Labour’s Alan Milburn in 1992 – and spending five years in the private sector - he was elected to his current constituency of Sevenoaks in Kent in 1997. He plans to stay in the seat for now.
In her letter to the Defence Secretary last night, Theresa May said: “You have combined these roles with diligent service to the public and I know you will continue to represent your constituents in that manner.
On behalf of all those you have helped throughout your time in Government, I thank you for your service.”
