How Kate Maltby revealed ‘corset’ text from Damian Green 17 months ago

Claims: writer Kate Maltby and First Secretary of State Damian Green
Elizabeth Handy
Rosamund Urwin21 December 2017

The writer who says Cabinet minister Damian Green touched her knee wrote down over a year ago claims that he “offered” her a job at the same time as making sexual advances towards her.

The Evening Standard can reveal a series of messages sent by Kate Maltby, long before the scandal blew up, which set down her feelings of discomfort about the politician.

These messages, which have been passed to the Cabinet Office inquiry into Mr Green’s alleged conduct, were sent to me, a friend of three years, in a conversation on social media.

They emerged on the day Mr Green is due to stand in for Theresa May at Prime Minister’s Questions, with an official inquiry into whether his conduct broke ministerial rules still ongoing.

Ms Maltby sent me a Facebook message in 2016, which was received four minutes after Mr Green sent her a text saying he had admired her wearing a corset in The Times and felt “impelled” to ask her for a drink.

Kate Maltby claims Damian Green "offered” her a job at the same time as making sexual advances towards her
AFP/Getty Images

She wrote: “When you’ve wondered if you were unfair to think that your old Tory MP who’s friends with your parents was hitting on you when he offered you a job (and you said no on that basis) ... and then he texts out of the blue after months to say ‘long time no see.

"But having admired you in a corset in my favourite tabloid, I feel impelled to ask if you are free for a drink anytime?’”

Ms Maltby later clarified to me that Mr Green had suggested working within the party with a view to getting on the Conservative candidates list, such as working for an MP or at campaign HQ.

The exchange is evidence that Ms Maltby’s version of events has been consistent for at least 17 months. It follows a disclosure by leading lawyer Helena Kennedy QC that Ms Maltby told her a year ago how Mr Green made her feel uncomfortable.

Kate Maltby’s messages to Rosamund Urwin following her interaction with Damian Green

Mr Green denies Ms Maltby’s allegations, saying he made no advances towards the writer, who is 30 years his junior. He does not deny discussing her “future career” but says he did so as a friend and there was no impropriety.

A spokesperson for the minister said: “It remains completely untrue that Mr Green has ever made any sexual ad-vances on Ms Maltby, nor did he ever offer her any role.

Any discussions about her future career were had in terms of a sitting MP offering advice and nothing more.”

Mrs May defended her decision to ask Mr Green, the First Secretary of State, to stand in at Prime Minister’s Questions, despite him being the subject of a Cabinet Office investigation led by Sue Gray, head of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office. It was seen by many MPs as a public display of support for her de facto deputy, a longstanding friend and ally.

Downing Street said he would stand in for her as normal during her trip to the Middle East. Her official spokesman insisted there was no attempt to pre-empt the investigation’s outcome.

Asked what her decision revealed about her own attitude towards victims of sexual harassment, Mrs May told reporters: “He is the First Secretary of State, he has deputised for me at Prime Minister’s Questions before.

“Obviously considerations of these issues are continuing, but he is First Secretary of State, he has done Prime Minister’s Questions before and I am sure he will do a very good job.”

Mrs May ordered an inquiry last month into claims against Mr Green. It was later widened to cover claims that pornography was found by police on a computer in his office. He has denied all allegations. Mrs May’s spokesman said: “We are not in the business of pre-empting the findings of this inquiry.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in