BORIS Johnson did not know he was being auctioned off at a sordid City of London men-only dinner.
Access to the Foreign Secretary was one of the prizes at the President Club’s charity dinner last Thursday, where young women were forced into tight-fitting dresses, told what underwear to wear, groped, harassed and propositioned for sex by drunk, rich, lecherous men.
Other lots included the opportunity for men to “add spice to your wife” by winning plastic surgery.
The annual society event in London’s Dorchester Hotel, ostensibly to raise money for charity, was exposed after an undercover investigation by a daily newspaper. Details of the goings-on at the dinner, now in it’s 33rd year, sent shockwaves through the City and Parliament yesterday.
Reporter Madison Marriage, who worked as one of the 130 “hostesses” at the event, told BBC Newsnight: “I was groped several times and I know that there are numerous other hostesses who said the same thing had happened to them.
“It’s hands up skirts, hands on bums but also hands on hips, hands on stomachs, arms going round your waist unexpectedly.
“The worst I was told by one of the hostesses was a man taking his penis out during the course of the dinner.
“The other one was another man telling a hostess to down her glass of champagne, rip off her knickers and dance on the table.”
A spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity said they would be returning the donation they received: “We are shocked to hear of the behaviour reported at the Presidents Club Charitable Trust fundraising dinner.
“We would never knowingly accept donations raised in this way.
“We have had no involvement in the organisation of this event, nor attended and we were never due to receive any money from it.”
David Meller, a non-executive director at the Department for Education has quit the Government over his role in organising the do.
Education Minister Anne Milton told the Commons that Meller would be stepping down following reports of “inappropriate and lewd behaviour” at the event.
She said: “Allegations of this kind of behaviour are completely unacceptable.”
The SNP’s Alison Thewliss asked Milton if she had spoken to Johnson, and if the “lunch is still going ahead and what message does she think it sends out to the world that our Foreign Secretary endorses such an event?”
Milton replied: “Can I be absolutely clear that I do know that the Foreign Secretary knew nothing of his inclusion in any auction, and in no way endorsed the event.”
There was some concern in the chamber that the Education Minister hadn’t answered the question, and that her answer meant access to Johnson was being auctioned off without his knowledge.
Meanwhile, comedian David Walliams, who hosted the event, said he “did not witness” the behaviour reported and that he was absolutely appalled by the allegations.
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