Journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer, who threatened to punch Sir Michael Fallon for repeatedly putting his hand on her knee, today joked her joints are both ‘still intact’.
The Defence Secretary attended a cabinet meeting today as Theresa May said he was ‘right’ to apologise but said he will not be investigated by the Cabinet Office over the 2002 incident.
LBC presenter Hartley-Brewer last night warned the Westminster sex harassment row had become a ‘witch hunt’.
Today she tweeted a picture of her legs and said: ‘Full medical check-up this morning and, yes, both of my knees are still intact. Get a grip, people. Although not on my knee, obviously’.
Journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer, who threatened to punch Sir Michael Fallon for repeatedly putting his hand on her knee, today joked her joints are both ‘still intact’
![Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon (left today) has been revealed as the MP who made the gesture to Miss Hartley-Brewer](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/10/31/14/45DD44B300000578-5035687-image-m-34_1509460650709.jpg)
![Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/10/31/14/45D6BFD700000578-5035687-Julia_Hartley_Brewer-a-35_1509460657317.jpg)
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon (left today) has been revealed as the MP who made the gesture to Miss Hartley-Brewer (right) during a Tory party conference in 2002
Yesterday Miss Hartley-Brewer, 49, said she was contacted by journalists about the incident in the wake of wider claims of sexual misconduct, but said she regarded it as ‘mildly amusing’.
Comparing her experience of a ‘misjudged sexual overture’ to serious harassment or assault was ‘absurd and wrong’, she argued.
In a statement on Twitter she wrote: ‘Wild rumours and claims are circulating about many male MPs at Westminster in a media feeding frenzy.
‘I have worked in and around Westminster for 20 years and, as far as I am aware, incidents of genuine harassment involve only a small number of MPs from all parties.
‘I believe it is absurd and wrong to treat workplace banter and flirting – and even misjudged sexual overtures – between consenting adults as being morally equivalent to serious sexual harassment or assault. It demeans genuine victims of real offences. Anyone with any allegations … should speak up now and provide the evidence to ensure any necessary action is taken.
She added: ‘I have not been a victim and I do not wish to take part in what I believe has now become a Westminster witch hunt.’
![Miss Hartley-Brewer says the incident involving Sir Michael as ‘mildly amusing’ and not a sexual assault](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/10/31/14/45DEDAB900000578-5035687-image-a-23_1509460017716.jpg)
Miss Hartley-Brewer says the incident involving Sir Michael as ‘mildly amusing’ and not a sexual assault
![Miss Hartley-Brewer says she is not a 'victim' and says she is worried it is becoming a 'Westminster witch hunt'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/10/31/14/45DEDAB500000578-5035687-image-a-24_1509460019928.jpg)
Miss Hartley-Brewer says she is not a ‘victim’ and says she is worried it is becoming a ‘Westminster witch hunt’
Miss Hartley-Brewer said the minister ‘repeatedly put his hand on my knee during a party conference dinner … I calmly and politely explained to him that, if he did it again, I would “punch him in the face”. He withdrew his hand … I have had no issues since with the man and do not regard the incident as anything but mildly amusing, which is why I have declined to name him.’
In the Sunday Express in 2009 she described how he had propositioned her. She wrote: ‘He was, he told me, a firm believer in the long-standing Westminster rule of … “party conferences don’t count”. I was, I told him, a firm believer in not going to bed with other women’s husbands.’
Last night, after Sir Michael had been named, Miss Hartley-Brewer tweeted: ‘Sigh. This “incident” happened in 2002. No one was remotely upset or distressed by it.’