reported<\/a> that Cleverly, one of the most senior ministers in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s government, had joked to female guests at an event this month that \u201ca little bit\u201d of the drug in his wife\u2019s drink every night was \u201cnot really illegal\u201d.<\/p>\nHe reportedly joked that the secret to a long marriage was ensuring your spouse was \u201csomeone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there\u201d.<\/p>\n
The newspaper also said it came the same day Cleverly, the minister overseeing law enforcement, announced new measures to tackle drink-spiking, including changes to legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn what was always understood as a private conversation James, the home secretary tackling spiking, made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke \u2014 for which he apologises,\u201d a spokesperson for Cleverly said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The Fawcett Society, a women\u2019s rights charity, called on him to resign, while Britain\u2019s opposition Labour Party said Cleverly\u2019s remarks were unbelievable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpiking is a serious and devastating crime,\u201d Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper, its home affairs policy spokeswoman, said on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cTruly unbelievable that the home secretary in charge of tackling violence against women and girls could think it okay to make jokes like this. How can victims trust him to take this vile crime seriously?\u201d<\/p>\n
Labour currently enjoys a strong lead in opinion polls over Britain\u2019s governing Conservatives ahead of a national election expected next year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British interior minister James Cleverly apologised on Sunday after he was reported to have joked about spiking his wife\u2019s drink with a sedative known for its use as a date-rape drug. The Sunday Mirror tabloid reported that Cleverly, one of the most senior ministers in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s government, had joked to female guests […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/12\/24231059bdc237d.jpg?r=232522","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t