British Deputy Prime Minister forced to resign over pornographic photos

UK Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green has been forced to resign after an investigation concluded he lied about pornographic images on his work computer.

Mr. Damian Green, Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of the Cabinet Office of the UK. Photo: Reuters

According to the Guardian (UK), Mr. Green was forced to resign on December 20 after admitting to lying about the existence of pornographic images on his computer at his office in the British House of Commons.

An inquiry led by cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood earlier found Mr Green's previous scathing denials after the Sunday Times reported a cache of indecent images had been found on his computer were "inaccurate and fraudulent".

As a particularly close Brexit ally of British Prime Minister Theresa May, Mr Green's departure is a big loss for her personally, who brought Mr Green into her cabinet after her party lost its majority in the general election in June this year.

Mr Green is the third cabinet minister to resign since early November, following the departures of Michael Fallon and Priti Patel.

In a letter responding to Mr Green's resignation, the British prime minister said she was "deeply saddened" that Mr Green was no longer in her government.

In his resignation letter, Mr Green continued to repeat his position that he had not “downloaded or viewed” the pornographic images.

But he added that "he should have been clearer in his press releases" that his lawyers had been informed of the existence of the images in 2008, and that he had discussed the matter with police as early as 2013.

On December 21, Mrs. May traveled to Poland, starting a 2-day foreign trip. Accordingly, the announcement of the new personnel to replace Mr. Green will probably have to wait until the parliament returns after the Christmas break this year.

According to Tuoi Tre