Cameron cutie Claire Perry faces industrial tribunal after she sacks her best friend "It is a very sad situation," Perry admits to me. Nothing could be sadder, as we were close friends. Her son was even an intern here. There was a redundancy of a very valued member of staff and she has now decided to take this to a tribunal. As an MP, I have a fixed budget and it meant I could not keep her on. Staff changes in my Westminster office meant that her job was absorbed within a broader policy and management job for which she did not have the skills or experience. She was therefore made redundant. Perry, who is the parliamentary private secretary to Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, adds: "She was offered other work within my local office, which she declined to accept. Mrs Nurick was very upset as a result of this decision. It is a matter of huge regret to me that we have not been able to reach an agreement, as she was both an extremely valued employee and a friend. I hope very much that some sort of agreement can be found. The comprehensive-educated Perry, 48, is a colourful figure who has hit the headlines several times since she succeeded Michael Ancram, the former Tory chairman, as the MP for Devizes, a safe seat. Last year, she wondered aloud in the House of Commons tea room whether she needed to perform a sexual act on John Bercow, the Speaker, before he would allow her to be heard. She had been overlooked in a debate on tuition fees. Earlier this month, she accidentally disclosed her private telephone number on a social-networking website. The MP, whose crassness in referring repeatedly to the "swinging ---- culture" of the City of London on Radio 5 Live raised eyebrows, was reported to have rung a senior political journalist and had a frank conversation with him in the mistaken belief that she was speaking to Tim Loughton, the children's minister. "Claire could be brilliant, but there's a danger she could self-destruct at any point," warned a political commentator. Mrs Nurick could not be reached for comment.