Australian minister posts gushing tweet about meeting Michael Fallon – 10 minutes AFTER he resigned amid sleaze scandal
AN AUSTRALIAN minister chose a very bad time to post a gushing tweet about meeting Sir Michael Fallon – after it appeared just after he resigned in disgrace.
Christopher Pyne was in London for talks with various Government figures on a trip to Europe, and was in London yesterday.
But his decision to publish a picture of him shaking the then-Defence Secretary’s hand at 7.39pm didn’t exactly turn out as he had planned.
The image of the Aussie Minister for Defence Industry appeared just after an exchange of letters between Mr Fallon and Theresa May as the 65-year-old stood down amid the Westminster sleaze scandal.
The senior Cabinet member plunged the Prime Minister into crisis, saying his past behaviour had “fallen below the high standards” he asked of the troops he presided over.
His allies blamed booze for making him a “Jekyll and Hyde” character with women, while sources say he also warned Mrs May he “couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be more stories”.
Mr Pyne, who had been keen to highlight the defence ties between Australia and Britain following his meetings, was left red-faced.
He has not tweeted about the incident since, but has been widely mocked on social media for the unfortunate timing of his message.
Mr Fallon also admitted to the BBC last night: “What might have been acceptable 15, 10 years ago is clearly not acceptable now.”
He is the most high-profile casualty yet of the Westminster scandal, which has seen a list of dozens of MPs containing lurid accusations circulating this week, as well as victims of sexual assault coming forward.
