James Cleverly facing calls to quit over 'joke' about spiking wife’s drink

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Home Secretary James Cleverly is facing calls to quit after joking about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug.Mr Cleverly apologised after his “ironic joke” at a No 10 reception, which came just hours after the Home Office announced plans to crack down on spiking.But women’s rights group the Fawcett Society said the comments were “sickening” and called for Mr Cleverly to resign.Domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid said it was vital for ministers to take the problem of spiking seriously.Mr Cleverly told female guests at the 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”, the Sunday Mirror reported.Mr Cleverly 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”.The Home Secretary met his wife Susie at university and the couple have two children.Conversations at Downing Street receptions are usually understood to be “off the record”, but the Sunday Mirror decided to break that convention because of Mr Cleverly’s position and the subject matter.Allies of Mr Cleverly said his comments were made in a private setting but he recognises they were inappropriate.Mr Cleverly has previously described tackling violence against women and girls as a “personal priority” and called spiking a “perverse” crime.A spokesman for the Home Secretary said: “In what was always understood as a private conversation, James, the Home Secretary tackling spiking, made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke – for which he apologises.”But Fawcett Society chief executive Jemima Olchawski said: “It’s sickening that the senior minister in charge