01 November 2017•Update: 02 November 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
British Secretary of Defense Sir Michael Fallon resigned Wednesday night amid a growing sexual harassment scandal surrounding Westminster.
“A number of allegations have surfaced about MPs in recent days, including some about my previous conduct,” Fallon said in his resignation letter to Prime Minister Theresa May.
“Many of these have been false but I accept in the past I have fallen below the high standards that we require of the armed forces that I have the honour to represent,” he said.
“I have reflected on my position and I am now resigning as defence secretary,” he added.
Fallon earlier this week became the first Cabinet minister to admit inappropriate behavior, over an incident of touching a journalist's knee 15 years ago, as a wave of sexual harassment accusations engulfs some of the country’s political leadership.
Fallon, who was identified by a tabloid newspaper, admitted via a spokesperson that he repeatedly touched journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer’s knee at a dinner in 2002.
However, Hartley-Brewer tweeted that she had not been "remotely upset or distressed". She said she rejects idea that Fallon -- who said he subsequently apologized -- should be pursued over the incident.
“I have not been a victim and I don’t wish to take part in what I believe has now become a Westminster witch-hunt,” she wrote.
Speaking to SkyNews following Fallon's resignation, Hartley-Brewer said she did not expect the defense minister to resign.
Other ministers face allegations
“I appreciate the characteristically serious manner in which you have considered your position, and the particular example you wish to set to servicemen and women and others,” Prime Minister Theresa May responded to the resignation.
More allegations have already emerged about various other ministers on Monday. The first secretary of state, Damian Green, has been accused of making inappropriate advances towards Kate Maltby, an activist.
Earlier in the week, Trade Minister Mark Garnier admitted asking a former assistant to buy sex toys, and using inappropriate language with her.
Former Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb -- a one-time contender for leadership of the Conservatives -- apologized for sending explicit messages to a young woman after a job interview at Westminster in 2013, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.
A number of lawmakers in parliament spoke yesterday about colleagues being made to feel “deeply uncomfortable” by some MPs, particularly in the institution’s bars and social areas.
