Minister Dominic Raab's ‘sex for sale’ diary secretary sparks Whitehall security probe

A security probe was launched today after a minister’s aide who worked in the same building as the Home Office was allegedly caught selling sex online.

The woman, who met men through a “Sugar Daddy” website, was based “a stone’s throw” from where Home Secretary Amber Rudd, the minister in charge of counter terrorism, has her own office.

During the day the 20-year-old civil servant, whom the Evening Standard is not naming, was employed as the diary secretary of housing minister Dominic Raab. His ministry moved to unused space at the Home Office in 2013 to save money.

She told an undercover reporter she knew Mr Raab’s “every move” and that he orders the same dish from Pret A Manger every day. The woman was not at work today and was understood to have been suspended pending an investigation. Her desk is in one of the most secure office blocks in the country where vetting is so strict that it takes seven weeks before new employees are issued with a pass.

“The office she works in is a stone’s throw from the Home Secretary’s office,” said a Home Office source.

“It is extremely alarming as there is clear potential for blackmail if these reports are true.” A spokesman for the Housing Ministry refused to answer questions about the security implications. Mr Raab played no part in the appointment of the woman, who has been a civil servant since she was 16. He encountered her for the first time when he was moved to housing in Theresa May’s reshuffle in January.

The woman said Mr Raab has the same lunch, chicken Caesar and bacon baguette, super-fruit pot and the vitamin volcano smoothie every day from Pret A Manger, which has chains around Westminster. “He is so weird. I get it for him. I go to Pret,” she said.

A reporter for the Daily Mirror met the woman twice while posing as a businessman, including at a five-star hotel. At the end of each meeting she was paid £750, the paper said.

There is no suggestion that Mr Raab was aware of the woman’s actions.

The woman allegedly met men on the Seeking Arrangement website. It is used by women known as “sugar babies” and older, wealthy men.

A spokeswoman for the Housing Ministry said: “We are aware of this allegation against one of our members of staff, and are investigating. There is no suggestion that any official information has been disclosed.”