The Cabinet Office is to investigate whether Mark Garnier broke the ministerial code after he admitted asking his former assistant to buy sex toys. 
 
 
 
 Garnier, a minister in the Department for International Trade under Liam Fox, was the most senior of several politicians named in reports on Sunday, as allegations of sexual harassment swirl around Westminster after the Harvey Weinstein scandal encouraged women in other professions to come forward. 
 
 The Conservative MP did not deny the accusations about events in 2010, made by his former assistant Caroline Edmondson in the Mail on Sunday. 
 
 “I’m not going to be dishonest,�? Garnier said. He insisted that referring to Edmondson as “sugar tits�?, as she says he did, was a reference to the popular BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey, saying: “It absolutely does not constitute harassment.�? 
 
 The Cabinet Office inquiry was announced by Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, during an interview on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. 
 
 
 
 He said: “The stories, if they are true, are obviously totally unacceptable and the Cabinet Office will be conducting an investigation into whether there’s been a breach of the ministerial code in this particular case.�? 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest John Bercow. Photograph: Rick Findler/PA 
 
 Theresa May later wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, saying that the Commons disciplinary procedures lacked “teeth�? and required urgent reform. 
 
 She said a situation where MPs did not have to follow procedures laid down by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) could not be tolerated any longer. 
 
 She asked for Bercow’s assistance in working on a cross-party basis to establish a new “house-wide mediation service�? backed by a “contractually binding grievance procedure�? available for all MPs. 
 
 A Conservative spokesman said: “As the prime minister has made clear, any reports of sexual harassment are deeply concerning and any unwanted sexual behaviour is completely unacceptable in any walk of life, including politics. 
 
 
 
 “Today, as a result of allegations about a serving minister, the prime minister has also asked the Cabinet Office to conduct an immediate investigation to see whether those reported actions break the ministerial code.�? 
 
 According to the newspaper report, Garnier gave Edmondson money to buy a sex toy for his wife and another for a woman working in his Wyre Forest constituency office. 
 
 A year on from Trump’s pussy grab, nothing has changed | Eva Wiseman Read more 
 
 Edmondson said: “He suggested to me in a Commons bar one evening that we went shopping for sex toys in Soho. The next day, he said: ‘Come on, let’s do it.’ He took me to Soho and gave me the money to buy two vibrators. He stood outside the shop while I did.�? 
 
 Garnier, a former City fund manager, is married with three children and was elected MP for Wyre Forest in 2010. 
 
 Downing Street has not yet responded to Garnier’s case, but a separate report in the Sunday Times claimed May receives regular briefings on the sexual affairs of members of the government from Conservative whips, who are responsible for enforcing party discipline. 
 
 
 
 Labour is also braced for fresh allegations of inappropriate behaviour, as junior staff feel emboldened to come forward. 
 
 Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, told Marr: “This isn’t a problem for any particular party or faction of a party ... it runs right across parliament.�? She said she hoped the recent revelations would lead to a sea change in the culture of all male-dominated professions. 
 
 Some MPs have claimed allegations are not taken seriously enough. One former Conservative minister said: “It’s grim: the whole culture has to change.�? 
 
 Another senior Tory named on Sunday was Stephen Crabb, who stood for the party leadership last year. He has admitted sending a 19-year-old who hoped to work for him a series of messages that he described as “sexual chatter�?. 
 
 “We exchanged messages which talked about sex but none of it was meant seriously,�? Crabb told the Sunday Telegraph. “We met for coffee a few times and had a glass of wine once at the Commons, but nothing more. I accept any kind of sexual chatter like this is totally wrong and I am sorry for my actions,.�? The incident is separate from one last year in which the MP sent explicit text messages to another young woman. 
 
 The Weinstein affair, in which the former Hollywood mogul has been accused of multiple incidents of rape and sexual harassment, many of them by women who hoped he would further their careers, has raised questions about the culture at Westminster. 
 
 Michael Gove, the environment secretary, apologised on Saturday after making a joke about the Hollywood producer on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. 
 
 Play Video 0:27 Gove makes 'clumsy' Harvey Weinstein joke on Today programme – audio 
 
 He told the presenter John Humphrys during an interview to mark the show’s 60th anniversary: “Sometimes I think coming into the studio with you, John, is a bit like going into Harvey Weinstein’s bedroom: you hope to emerge with your dignity intact.�? 
 
 Gove later tweeted: “Apologies for my clumsy attempt at humour on R4 Today this morning – it wasn’t appropriate. I’m sorry and apologise unreservedly.�? 
 
 Abbott told Marr on Sunday: “Particularly in parliament, making sexual harassment a joke is one of the reasons it’s not been dealt with. You have got to realise it’s undermining and demeaning for women and it undermines and demeans the institution.�? ||||| Image copyright PA 
 
 Conservative MP Mark Garnier is to face an investigation into whether he broke ministerial rules after he admitted asking his secretary to buy sex toys. 
 
 The international trade minister also confirmed calling her "sugar tits," according to the Mail on Sunday, but he said it did not amount to harassment. 
 
 The Cabinet Office will look at whether the Ministerial Code of Conduct has been breached. 
 
 Mr Garnier did not respond to BBC requests for a comment. 
 
 It comes as the prime minister wrote to Commons Speaker John Bercow, calling for a new contractually-binding grievance procedure to be set up for all MPs and their staff. 
 
 Mrs May also asked Mr Bercow for his advice on how the culture at Westminster can be changed. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn backed her call for reforms. 
 
 'Dinosaur behaviour' 
 
 Mr Garnier's former secretary, Caroline Edmondson, told the Mail on Sunday he had given her money to buy two vibrators at a Soho sex shop. 
 
 Ms Edmondson, who has since left to work for another MP, was quoted as saying that on another occasion in a bar, in front of witnesses, he told her: "You are going nowhere, sugar tits." 
 
 The Mail reported that Mr Garnier had admitted the claims, saying: "I'm not going to deny it, because I'm not going to be dishonest. I'm going to have to take it on the chin." 
 
 Mr Garnier conceded that his actions could look like "dinosaur behaviour" in the current climate, but added: "It absolutely does not constitute harassment." 
 
 The incidents date back to 2010 - before Mr Garnier was a government minister. 
 
 Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr on Sunday, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said recent newspaper reports about inappropriate behaviour by MPs and ministers were "totally unacceptable if true". 
 
 Asked about the working culture at Westminster, he said: "Things have got better in recent years but there is still some way to go. 
 
 "There are mums and dads who have daughters who are politics students hoping to get a job in Westminster, and they must be able to be confident that if they get that job, their daughter will not be subject to some of these behaviours that we have been seeing." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Diane Abbott: "Making sexual harassment a joke is one of the reasons it's not been dealt with" 
 
 'Undermining and demeaning' 
 
 Shadow Home Secretary Dianne Abbott told the Andrew Marr show the culture for women in Parliament had improved since she was elected in 1987, but said there was "still a long way to go". 
 
 She also criticised Conservative Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who was forced to apologise on Saturday after he likened being interviewed by BBC presenter John Humphrys to "going into Harvey Weinstein's bedroom". 
 
 "I heard it and I didn't think it was funny - particularly in Parliament, making sexual harassment a joke is one of the reasons it's not being dealt with," she said. 
 
 "You've got to realise that it's undermining and demeaning for women and undermines and demeans the institution." 
 
 Ms Abbott said Labour had set up a new process for dealing with complaints of sexual harassment, but she stressed that it was an issue for all parties to deal with. 
 
 Referring to Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O'Mara, who has been suspended by the Labour Party while it investigates misogynistic and homophobic comments attributed to him, she said: "That language and that tone is unacceptable". 
 
 Labour MP Liz Kendall told BBC Radio 5 live's Pienaar's Politics she knew of people in her own party who had not reported harassment "because they were urged not to". She backed the creation of a new independent reporting system. 
 
 Conservative MP Anna Soubry called for an urgent statement from Commons leader Andrea Leadsom on what can be done to ensure complaints are dealt with properly. 
 
 She told the Sunday Politics previous attempts by Conservative whips to set up a new grievance procedure had been frustrated by an inability to "get all the agreement that was necessary". 
 
 'Sexual chatter' 
 
 Meanwhile, former Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb was reported by the Sunday Telegraph to have admitted sending "explicit" messages to a 19-year-old woman after a job interview at Westminster in 2013. 
 
 The married MP, who admitted meeting the woman "a few times," was quoted by the paper as saying he had been "foolish" but that there had been no sexual contact. 
 
 "I accept any kind of sexual chatter like this is totally wrong and I am sorry for my actions," the MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire said. 
 
 Mr Crabb resigned last year as work and pensions secretary following reports of a similar incident. 
 
 He did not respond to requests from the BBC for a comment. 
 
 Image copyright BBC Sport Image caption George Riley has reported on major sporting events for Radio 5 live 
 
 Elsewhere, the Sunday Times is reporting that BBC Radio 5 live sports broadcaster George Riley has been suspended, following claims that a number of women have complained about his behaviour. 
 
 Mr Riley has not commented and the BBC has not confirmed or denied the report. 
 
 A BBC spokesman said: "We can't comment on individuals but treat any allegations seriously and have processes in place for investigating them." ||||| One of Theresa May’s Brexit Ministers was at the centre of a new Westminster sexism row last night after admitting he called his secretary ‘sugar t*ts’ and got her to buy sex toys for him. 
 
 Commons secretary Caroline Edmondson told The Mail on Sunday that International Trade Minister Mark Garnier called her ‘sugar t*ts’ in front of witnesses. 
 
 And she said he gave her cash to buy two vibrators at a sex shop in Soho – and stood outside the store while she bought them. 
 
 Commons secretary Caroline Edmondson told The Mail on Sunday that International Trade Minister Mark Garnier (pictured) called her ‘sugar t*ts’ in front of witnesses 
 
 The disclosures about Mr Garnier came as: 
 
 Former Cabinet Minister Stephen Crabb admitted sending ‘explicit’ messages to a 19-year-old woman after a job interview at Westminster. 
 
 Cabinet Minister Michael Gove sparked outrage by making a tasteless joke about Harvey Weinstein on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. 
 
 Campaigning anti-sleaze Labour MP John Mann called for a Commons Sex Pest Tsar to protect women at Westminster from male predators. 
 
 Claims emerged that women have had their drinks spiked with date rape drugs in Commons bars. 
 
 Theresa May’s spokesman said on Friday that unwanted sexual behaviour was ‘completely unacceptable’ and any Ministers found to have acted inappropriately would face ‘serious action’. 
 
 And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn yesterday condemned ‘warped and degrading’ behaviour at Westminster. He talked of a ‘culture that has tolerated abuse for far too long and thrives in the corridors of power’. 
 
 Ms Edmondson said wealthy ex-banker Mr Garnier told her that one of the sex toys was for his wife, also called Caroline, while the other was for a female assistant in his Wyre Forest constituency office in the West Midlands. 
 
 Father-of-three Mr Garnier, 53, one of International Trade Secretary Liam Fox’s deputies, last night confirmed the claims. ‘I’m not going to deny it, because I’m not going to be dishonest,’ he said. ‘I’m going to have to take it on the chin.’ 
 
 Former Cabinet Minister Stephen Crabb admitted sending ‘explicit’ messages to a 19-year-old woman after a job interview at Westminster 
 
 He said his ‘sugar t*ts’ comment was part of ‘an amusing conversation’ about TV comedy Gavin And Stacey. In the show, the term is used to describe an attractive woman. 
 
 Asking Ms Edmondson to buy sex toys in Soho was ‘good-humoured high jinks’, he said. 
 
 He denied it constituted sexual harassment. Mr Garnier said that the sex toys were bought after a Christmas lunch. ‘We bought some soap sets, that sort of stuff, scented candles. The vibrator shop was high jinks.’ 
 
 Mr Garnier said he told Ms Edmondson he didn’t think it was a good idea, but she had gone ahead. ‘I hung around outside and she went into this shop. That was it.’ 
 
 He said they later ‘fell out’ and claimed that ‘disgruntled’ Ms Edmondson ‘has been using [the incident] against me ever since’. 
 
 He vehemently denied sexual harassment, saying: ‘Not at all. It absolutely does not constitute harassment.’ 
 
 Ms Edmondson, pictured, said wealthy ex-banker Mr Garnier told her that one of the sex toys was for his wife, also called Caroline 
 
 He conceded that in the current post-Harvey Weinstein sexism climate it could ‘look like dinosaur behaviour’ but added: ‘In the context of the time, we got on fine.’ 
 
 Last night, Ms Edmondson hit back at Mr Garnier’s version of events and called him a ‘s**t’. 
 
 She said: ‘He has lied. He suggested to me in a Commons bar one evening that we went shopping for sex toys in Soho. The next day, he said, “Come on, let’s do it.” 
 
 ‘He took me to Soho and gave me the money to buy two vibrators. He stood outside the shop while I did. He said one was for his wife and the other was for a woman who worked in his constituency office.’ 
 
 She added: ‘Another time in the bar he said to me in the hearing of others, “You are going nowhere, sugar t*ts.” 
 
 ‘He was worried I was going to go off and work for another MP. It was awful.’ 
 
 Shortly after the incidents in 2010, Ms Edmondson, who is married, stopped working for Mr Garnier. She is now Commons secretary to former Cabinet Minister John Whittingdale. 
 
 In a second sex controversy, Mr Crabb confirmed he sent ‘explicit’ messages to a 19-year-old woman he interviewed for a job in 2013, when he was Welsh Minister. It happened before a separate incident involving messages of a sexual nature sent to a different young woman during the EU referendum campaign. 
 
 This led to his Cabinet resignation last year. 
 
 Mr Crabb is understood to have sent ‘flirtatious’ messages to the teenager and met her for a drink at the Commons. They also met by chance at the Tory conference in Manchester four weeks ago. 
 
 Mr Crabb said last night he had been ‘foolish’ but insisted there was no sexual contact and he had not kissed her. 
 
 ‘We exchanged messages which talked about sex but none of it was meant seriously. 
 
 ‘We met for coffee a few times and had a glass of wine once at the Commons, but nothing more. I accept any kind of sexual chatter like this is totally wrong and I am sorry for my actions.’ 
 
 Mr Crabb has been trying to rebuild his marriage since similar claims last year. 
 
 Mr Corbyn’s comments yesterday came after he had been criticised for being too slow to act over misogynistic and homophobic comments by Labour MP Jared O’Mara. 
 
 A No 10 spokeswoman said: ‘The Prime Minister has been clear that any victims of unwanted sexual attention should come forward.’
– The Harvey Weinstein case may even be making waves across the pond, with a Tory trade minister facing investigation for allegedly sexually harassing his ex-assistant. Among Caroline Edmondson's accusations, which Mark Garnier doesn't deny: asking her to buy sex toys for him and calling her "sugar tits," per the Guardian and the BBC. Garnier told the Daily Mail on Sunday that "I'm not going to be dishonest" and copped to asking Edmondson to purchase two vibrators, which he called "good-humored high jinks," after a 2010 holiday meal in Soho. He also admitted to making the "sugar tits" remark, but he said it was made during an "amusing conversation" about a popular British TV show in which the term is used to describe an attractive woman. "It absolutely does not constitute harassment," he insists, saying he and Edmondson later had a fight and now she's "disgruntled." Edmondson, who says the two vibrators were for Garnier's wife and another woman who worked in one of his offices (he wasn't yet a minister), replied to his response by calling him a "sh--." She also says the "amusing" comment was made to her at a bar and that Garnier's exact words were: "You are going nowhere, sugar tits." Edmondson's allegations, which the Cabinet Office will now look into, are part of a larger debate over how women are treated in UK government, as other politicians have also recently come under fire for inappropriate behavior. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt tells the BBC that the reports are "totally unacceptable if true," while PM Theresa May has vowed to crack down on such behaviors, noting current disciplinary procedures lack the "teeth" to deal with them. "It's grim. The whole culture has to change," a former Conservative Party minister says, per the Guardian.