Court told Tory said it was a ‘big ask’ for MP to quit over sex claims

Evans, 56, the former deputy speaker of the House of Commons, is alleged to have groped a young man, a bisexual Westminster worker, who was sleeping on the settee at his home in Pendleton, Lancashire.

But Mr McLoughlin, who is now the Transport Secretary, said he thought the matter was a “misunderstanding”, not a sexual assault, when told about the incident in July, 2009.

Mr McLoughlin and others said the exact details were not given or they understood the complaint was a “drunken pass” and that Evans had got under the blanket with the young man – and not physically groped him.

The complainant is one of seven young men Evans is alleged to have sexually assaulted.

Evans denies the alleged offences.

Yesterday Mr McLoughlin told of the meeting in his Commons office on July 6, 2009, shortly after the incident, with the complainant and John Randall MP, the assistant chief whip and Iain Corby, a Tory research chief.

Mr McLoughlin told the jury at Preston Crown Court: “He had been drinking, Nigel had been drinking and said an incident had taken place. I don’t remember him going into exact details of what the incident was, although he may have done.

“I asked him what he wanted and he said that he wanted Nigel to not stand at the next general election.

“I remember saying that was a really big ask considering what he had said to me, but we need to see where things went.

“He did seem to change his mind at some stage; he wanted Nigel to apologise and he would regard that as sufficient.”

Mr McLoughlin, the MP for the Derbyshire Dales, said he next spoke to Evans about what had gone on.

“I think Nigel said things had got out of hand and he was apologetic for that,” he said.

“I remember saying to Nigel ‘you have got to be careful about how much you drink, you have got to watch your drinking habit’.”

The court heard it was common knowledge in Westminster that Evans was gay but he had not ‘come out’ publicly.

Mr McLoughlin said: “He was asking him to give up his entire Parliamentary career on what I could see was a misunderstanding. I thought that was a huge demand given the nature of the complaint.”

He added: “I made it very clear if he wanted to take it further he should talk to the police about it.”

The court also heard another young man was allegedly groped by the Tory MP in a House of Commons bar in 2010.

The complainant was introduced to Evans, who was standing in a group of people.

He said: “We were chatting and Nigel reached out and grabbed my genitals, basically.

“I brushed it [his hand] away and said, ‘No, that’s not cool’.”

He added: “It is building up a case where he should not be in a position of power where stuff like this happens and is swept under the carpet.” The complainant said no-one appeared to have witnessed the alleged incident.

Evans denies one rape, two indecent assaults and six sexual assaults said to have taken place between 2002 and 2013.

The case continues.