MIRROR
Home Secretary James Cleverly said he “regrets” the hurt he caused by joking about giving his wife date rape drug Rohypnol on the day the Home Office announced a crackdown on spiking.
James Cleverly has issued a grovelling TV apology for a joke he made about date rape drug Rohypnol on the day ministers announced a crackdown on spiking.
The Home Secretary faced calls to quit after it emerged he’d told female female guests at a Downing Street event that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”. He also laughed that the secret to a long marriage was ensuring your spouse was “someone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there.”
This morning he said he regretted making the remark and admitted it had caused hurt. He told Sky News’ Kay Burley: “It was it was a joke that I made. And of course, you know, I regret it and I apologised immediately. That apology is heartfelt.”
It comes days after No10 said Rishi Sunak considers the matter “closed”. It is unclear if he discussed the remark with the Cabinet member as calls mounted for him to be punished.
Mr Cleverly’s apology went on: “I’m sorry, because it’s clearly caused hurt and that’s the last thing on it potentially distracted from the work that we were doing to tackle spike to help predominantly women who are victims of spiking and I regret that.”
He was challenged about the joke on BBC Breakfast, when presenter John Kay asked him: “When you sit in the Home Office in future with women’s charities…
