Profumo affair met at Wimpole Mews, when Ward was absent, although once, when Hobson was away, Profumo took Keeler to his home at Chester Terrace in Regent's Park. On one occasion he borrowed a Bentley from his ministerial colleague John Hare and took Keeler for a drive around London, and another time the couple had a drink with Viscount Ward, the former Secretary of State for Air. During their time together, Profumo gave Keeler a few small presents, and once, a sum of £20 as a gift for her mother. Keeler maintains that although Stephen Ward asked her to obtain information from
Profumo affair ministers felt it necessary to demonstrate their loyalty to the prime minister. In a BBC interview on 13 June Lord Hailsham, holder of several ministerial offices, denounced Profumo in a manner which, according to "The Observer"s reporter, "had to be seen to be believed". Hailsham insisted that "a great party is not to be brought down because of a squalid affair between a woman of easy virtue and a proven liar". In the debate, Wilson concentrated almost exclusively on the extent to which the prime minister and his colleagues had been dilatory in not identifying a clear security risk arising