Brexit minister faces official investigation over claims he made his secretary buy SEX TOY gifts and called her ‘sugar t**s’
A BREXIT minister faces an official investigation after he admitted calling his secretary “sugar t*ts” and asking her to buy him VIBRATORS.
Commons secretary Caroline Edmondson said International Trade Minister Mark Garnier got her to buy sex toys in Soho for his wife and another female employee.
Speaking with , married Edmondson claims the Tory minister also called her “sugar t*ts” in front of witnesses in a bar when she worked for him.
Mr Garnier has been reported to the Cabinet Office, who will probe whether he has broken the ministerial code of conduct.
The news comes as Theresa May fears the Westminster sex pest scandal may force her into an emergency reshuffle.
Mr Garnier is not the only MP unmasked with ex-Cabinet minister Stephen Crabb being revealed to have sent sexually explicit messages to a woman aged 19 who applied to work in his Commons office.
Speaking on BBC1 this morning, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed that the Prime Minister had referred Mr Garnier to officials who are responsible for the conduct of ministers.
He told Andrew Marr: "The Cabinet Office will be conducting an investigation into whether there's been a breach of ministerial code in this case, because the facts are disputed."
Mr Hunt added: "These stories, if they are true, are obviously totally unacceptable.
"There are mums and dads who have daughters who are politics students hoping to get a job in Westminster and they must be able to be confident that if they get that job, their daughter will not be subject to some of these behaviours that we have been seeing."
Father-of-three Mr Garnier, 53, does not deny the claims, he said the incidents were taken out of context.
He said the use of the name “sugar t*ts” was part of “an amusing conversation” and referenced the BBC sitcom Gavin and Stacey.
Former banker Mr Garnier, who is deputy to International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, also said he purchased vibrators with Ms Edmondson at a Soho sex shop as part of “good humoured high jinks”.
He told the Mail that he had fallen out with Ms Edmondson, who now works for former Cabinet Minister John Whittingdale, and she has “been using [the incident] against me ever since.”
Mr Garnier said in the current Harvey Weinstein-climate, this could “look like dinosaur behaviour” but said “in the context of the time, we got on fine.”
The wealthy Brexiteer “vehemently denies sexual harassment” reports the Mail.
But Ms Edmondson has called Mr Garnier a “s**t” claiming he “lied” saying he suggested they buy the vibrators while drinking in the Commons bar.
She said: “The next day, he said, 'Come on, let’s do it.' He took me to Soho and gave me the money to buy two vibrators.
“He stood outside the shop while I did. He said one was for his wife and the other was for a woman who worked in his constituency office.”
The Commons Secretary claims that her former boss said “you are going nowhere, sugar t*ts” when learning she was thinking of working for another MP.
She described the incident, which she says was witnessed by others, as “awful.”
This week it emerged that a secret WhatsApp group belonging to women working in Westminster is used to warn each other about MPs with a reputation for sexually inappropriately 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.
The messaging group also claims MPs have indecently pestered members of staff and subjected female workers to sexist nicknames.
On Saturday, former Cabinet Minister Stephen Crabb admitted sending “explicit” messages to a teenager who he had interviewed for a job.
Last year, devout Christian Crabb was caught sexting another woman half his age.
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for the Environment, has apologised after making a joke about pervert Harvey Weinstein before appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
MOST READ IN NEWS
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours