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UK's Home Secretary James Cleverly is facing calls for resignation after making a joke about spiking his wife's drink every night at a Downing Street reception on December 18, 2023.
According to The Sunday Mirror report published on December 24, 2023, Cleverly told guests at the reception that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her [wife's] drink every night” was:
"Not really illegal if it’s only a little bit."
He also reportedly said that the secret to a long marriage is making sure your spouse is:
"Someone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realise there are better men out there."
The joke did not sit well with many, as women's rights groups have called for the home secretary's resignation. This joke from James Cleverly came just hours after the Home Office announced its plans to crack down on spiking.
James Cleverly was recently made the Home Secretary on November 13, 2023, by PM Rishi Sunak, replacing Suella Braverman. He and his wife Susannah Janet Temple Cleverly married in 2000 and have two children together - Freddy and Rupert Cleverly.
James Cleverly has two grown-up sons
James Cleverly and his wife Susie met at university and got married on June 17, 2000. According to his website, they have have two sons - Frederick (Freddy), born in Lewisham Hospital on April 30, 2002, and Rupert, also born in Lewisham on September 20, 2004.
They both attended Colfe's school, a co-educational private day school in the London Borough of Lewisham. Freddy and Rupert are the third generation of Cleverlys to study at Colfe's.
Freddy, aged 21 and Rupert, aged 19, enjoy their private life and try to stay out of the media's eyes as much as possible. According to his LinkedIn profile, Rupert studied cinematography and film/video production at Colfe's.
The Cleverly family live in Lewisham and also have a German shorthaired dog named Rosie.
In December 2021, Susie was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy and a mastectomy. In a statement to The Telegram of how she broke the news to her sons, she said:
“I wanted them to know straight away. I rang Freddy at university. Then I told Rupert when he came home from school. I didn’t want them to find out from anyone else. I wanted to be the one to tell them and reassure them.”
Speaking to Sky News about Susie's diagnosis, James Cleverly said:
“I haven't thought about my mortality, and certainly haven't ever really given any thought to losing Susie, or what that might feel like — and then suddenly you get to confront that. And, we are close.”
Netizens call for James Cleverly's resignation over his date rape drug joke
Women's rights activists and netizens were outraged over James Cleverly's joke about spiking. People took to X (formerly Twitter) to call for Cleverly's resignation as Home Secretary.
According to The Guardian, Jemima Olchawski, the chief executive of leading women’s rights charity the Fawcett Society, called the comments "sickening".
“We know that ‘banter’ is the excuse under which misogyny is allowed to thrive. How can we trust [Cleverly] to seriously address violence against women and girls? “We deserve better than this from our lawmakers and he should resign.”
Alex Davies-Jones, the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, said:
“‘It was a joke’ is the most tired excuse in the book and no one is buying it. If the home secretary is serious about tackling spiking, and violence against women and girls, then that requires a full cultural change. The ‘banter’ needs to stop and it has to start at the top.”
Conversations spoken at Downing Street receptions are usually off the record but considering the nature of the comments and the person who said them, The Sunday Mirror thought it appropriate to make this incident public knowledge.
James Cleverly's spokesperson put out an apology statement, saying:
“In what was always understood as a private conversation, James, the home secretary, tackling spiking made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke – for which he apologises.”
According to The Guardian, spiking cases are on the rise, with over 6,732 incidents of spiking reported in England and Wales between May 2022 and April 2023.
