‘Let’s Move On’: Tory MP Defends Home Secretary Amid Resignation Calls Over ‘Misogynistic’ Date Rape Drug Joke
Tory MP Dame Caroline Dinenage defended Home Secretary James Cleverly in the face of calls he resign over a “misogynistic” comment in which he joked he spiked his wife with date rape drug to keep her docile.
Asked by Sky News host Anna Jones about senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry’s saying that Cleverly should be “ashamed” of the joke, Dinenage asked that the conversation “move on” and said that the Home Secretary clearly regretted the “ill-judged” comment but that it shouldn’t take away from his work.
“I think it was a very, very ill-judged comment,” Dinenage said. “But, I mean, James has owned that comment and apologised. I think he understands, and actually, you know, anybody who follows James on social media will see how deeply in love with his wife he is and what a wonderful relationship they have. So you. I think that he’s apologised. Let’s move on.”
The host pressed the MP further: “But he heads up the Home Office that’s in charge of tattling incidents like spiking. It’s really in that position. He shouldn’t be making jokes like that, should he?”
“Well, I mean, as you say, it was a sort of an off-the-cuff silly remark,” Dinenage continued. “I’m sure he completely regrets it. I mean, we all say things that we regret, it was very ill-judged. And, you know, and it was a misogynistic comment, but let’s hope that he’s learned from that and that we can move on. It shouldn’t supersede all the really important stuff that the Home Office needs to get to grips with.”
Cleverly’s joke, reported by the Sunday Mirror, included a comment that adding “a little bit of Rohypnol in [his wife’s] drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit.” He also said that the secret to a long marriage being to keep your spouse “mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there.” He since apologised.
The incident came just hours after the Home Office announced measures to combat spiking, where drugs are introduced into a person’s drink or body without their knowledge.
The comment was met with immediate condemnation from campaigners who protested the need to overhaul of attitudes that trivialise date rape and coercive control.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said they regard the issue as closed and that Cleverly will not face any consequence.
