Presidents Club scandal: DfE director David Meller stepping down – but families minister Nadhim Zahawi stays
David Meller is stepping down as one of the directors of the board of the Department for Education, but minister Nadhim Zahawi will stay on, the government confirmed today.
Skills minister Anne Milton said Meller told the House of Commons this afternoon that Meller, one of the joint chairmen of the Presidents Club Charity Dinner, would step down both as a director and as chair of the apprenticeships delivery board.
But recently-appointed children and families minister Zahawi will not be leaving government, Milton said. She told the Commons he had only attended the event briefly and had “felt uncomfortable” before leaving.
Asked why, if he felt uncomfortable, Zahawi had not raised an alarm over the event, Milton said he did file a report “this morning”.
Milton, who also serves as minister for women, said the alleged behaviour at the men-only dinner was “completely unacceptable”. She added that she had told a WhatsApp group “words fail me” after reading the revelations.
An investigation carried out by the Financial Times into an annual charity dinner held by the Presidents Club, found that hostesses for the men-only event were made to wear skimpy dresses, encouraged to drink alcohol and then subjected to behaviour including being groped and asked if they were prostitutes.
Women were given non-disclosure agreements to sign, but not given enough time to read the documents, the article also alleges.
Labour MP Jess Phillips, who brought the urgent question, said: “Women were bought as bait for men, for rich men, less than a mile from where we stand. That is unacceptable behaviour.”
A tearful SNP MP Carol Monaghan said the story had detailed how toilets were monitored and women returned to their guests, adding: “This is not sexism, this is slavery.”
Zahawi tweeted this afternoon: “I do unequivocally condemn this behaviour. The report is truly shocking. I will never attend a men only function ever.”
Downing Street also defended Zahawi, although admitted the Prime Minister was “uncomfortable” about the reports. “I say reports because clearly this is an event to which she would not be invited.”
A spokesman said the minister “clearly did attend the event briefly and has himself said that he felt uncomfortable at it, leaving at the point that the hostesses were introduced… I think it is probably safe to say that Mr Zahawi will not be attending a similar event in the future.”
“He himself probably regrets the decision to go,” the spokesman added.
The Prime Minister thought it was “the right decision” that Meller had been asked to step down.
Meller, who is also joint chairman of high-end supplier the Meller Group, joined the Department for Education as a non-executive board member in June 2013.
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said: “It is right that David Meller has now resigned but there are still serious questions for the education secretary to answer over this scandal. The minister for children attended this event himself and we have yet to hear a full and clear account of his actions.
“The Department for Education is responsible for protecting children from exploitation and tackling sexual harassment in our schools, yet in the last fortnight alone we have seen two ministerial appointments forced to resign after falling far short of the standards we should expect. It is about time they started leading by example.”