A minister’s secretary who is alleged to have been caught selling sex online has been suspended from her post.
Officials at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government are investigating a civil service employee who worked until Wednesday as diary secretary to Dominic Raab, the housing minister.
The woman, 20, is alleged to have advertised herself to “sugar daddies” on a website where wealthy men make financial arrangements with younger women, known as sugar babies. She is said to have offered an undercover reporter from the Daily Mirror, posing as a businessman, “full undisputed access to me” for £750 per meeting.
Rebecca Tott featured in a poster for a civil service apprenticeship scheme.
The Mirror did not disclose the woman’s identity but she was named last night as Rebecca Tott, from Ashford in Surrey. She joined the civil service when she was 16, and featured in a poster campaign for its apprenticeship scheme. She has also been diary secretary for Lord Heseltine.
Ms Tott told The Sun: “Obviously the allegations aren’t fantastic. They aren’t great for my career but we’ll deal with that.” [J4MB emphasis]
The Mirror had quoted her describing in detail the nature of her job and disparaging Mr Raab’s character, as well as suggesting that she would be willing to have sex on his desk. She told the undercover reporter: “Basically, I organise his entire life. I know everything about him. I know his every move.” She allegedly added that she would “love to get sacked” for having sex in Mr Raab’s ministerial office.
Concerns for the security of Mr Raab and other ministers were raised by the report. A source at the Home Office, which shares an office complex with the housing ministry in Marsham Street, Westminster, told the London Evening Standard that it was alarmed. Noting that Ms Tott had worked in an office a “stone’s throw” from that of Amber Rudd, the home secretary, the source said: “There is clear potential for blackmail if these reports are true.”
Mr Raab had no role in employing Ms Tott, who as a former civil service apprentice was not a political appointee, and there is no suggestion that he was aware of her actions. A spokesman for the housing ministry insisted that no official government information had been disclosed, but the incident is still likely to be embarrassing for the department, whose premises are subject to some of the tightest security in Whitehall, and to Mr Raab.
Ms Tott complained that Mr Raab, a right-wing Brexiteer tipped by some as a future leadership challenger, was “so weird”, “difficult” and “dismissive of women” and said that he “thinks he’s prime minister”, according to the Daily Mirror. She said he made her buy him the same sandwich from Pret a Manger every day, a revelation that provoked mirth in Westminster yesterday.
A ministry spokesman said: “We are aware of this allegation… and are investigating. There is no suggestion that any official information has been disclosed.” Mr Raab did not comment.
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