Kate Maltby's parents speak of their pride at their daughter's 'fortitude and serenity' after Damian Green's sacking

'Fortitude': Kate Maltby
Robin de Peyer21 December 2017
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The parents of a Tory activist have told of their admiration for their daughter after she spoke out over sacked cabinet minister Damian Green's behaviour.

Writer Kate Maltby, 31, told how she had been made to feel uncomfortable by Mr Green, who is 30 years older than her.

Mr Green denied the allegations, insisting he made no advances towards Ms Maltby.

Prime Minister Theresa May last night sacked Mr Green from his position as first secretary of state after he made "misleading" statements about allegations that police found pornography on computers in his parliamentary office in 2008.

Speaking after Mr Green's sacking, Ms Maltby's parents Colin and Victoria said: "We are not surprised to find that the inquiry found Mr Green to have been untruthful as a minister, nor that they found our daughter to be a plausible witness.”

Damian Green was sacked last night after he was found to have lied over pornography found on his computer
PA

The couple, who have been friends with Mr Green, added: "We have received many supportive messages from people near and far who appreciate Kate's courage and the importance of speaking out about the abuse of authority. We join with them in admiring her fortitude and serenity throughout the length of this investigation. We are proud of her."

Mrs May said she was "extremely sad" to ask Mr Green, one of her closest allies, to resign but stressed his behaviour "falls short" of the expectations of those serving in government.

It is understood the PM asked Mr Green to resign after summoning him to Downing Street on Wednesday evening, and is not planning to replace him until the New Year at the earliest.

Theresa May's response to Damian Green's letter of resignation

The inquiry was triggered after Kate Maltby, who is three decades younger than Mr Green, claimed he "fleetingly" touched her knee during a meeting in a pub in 2015, and a year later sent her a "suggestive" text message after she was pictured wearing a corset in a newspaper.

"Long time no see," the message read. "But having admired you in a corset in my favourite tabloid I feel impelled to ask if you are free for a drink anytime?”

Reporting the inquiry's findings, Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood said that with "competing and contradictory accounts of what were private meetings" it was "not possible to reach a definitive conclusion on the appropriateness of Mr Green's behaviour with Kate Maltby in early 2015, though the investigation found Ms Maltby's account to be plausible".

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