A FORMER minister sacked following allegations he had pornography on his work computers will be one of the MPs overseeing the passage of the Government’s online safety reforms, it has emerged.
Damian Green, who effectively served as Theresa May’s deputy while she was prime minister, has become the acting chair of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee.
He replaced Tory MP Julian Knight, who has recused himself from parliament as police investigate allegations of serious sexual assault against him.
Green, who was sacked as a minister in 2017 following allegations about pornography on his parliamentary computers, said “online safety” would be one of the key issues the committee would be considering.
He said: “This year will undoubtedly bring with it some major policy challenges in the world of DCMS, with online safety, the future of public service broadcasting, sports governance and gambling all likely to feature high up on the agenda.
“The committee will continue the important work it has been doing asking the right questions and scrutinising the approach and decisions of the Government and others.”
Green lost his Cabinet job in 2017 after breaching the Ministerial Code by making “inaccurate and misleading statements” suggesting he was unaware of indecent material on his parliamentary computer.
In his resignation letter Green said that while he “did not download or view pornography on my parliamentary computers” he “should have been clear in my press statements that police lawyers talked to my lawyers” about it in 2008 and then raised it in a subsequent phone call in 2013.
