But in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, the dinner seems like a piece of the worst of the 1980s or 50s even crashing into the modern era. Is this the night that unreconstructed attitudes in the city and at the top level of business are exposed . Our business editor, helen thomas, reports. A 5 star london location. The guest list scattered with big names and big wallets. And innocuous billing, the president s club charity dinner. This was a Charity Auction like no other. Last week, according to the financial times, 360 men from British Business, politics and finance came to a black tie event here. 360 men but no women except they were joined by 130 hostesses. Young women, reportedly chosen for their looks, who are given short, tight dresses to wear. The women, who were paid £150, were paraded in and distributed around the table. Later in the evening, the paper says, hostesses according to the charitable trusts last set of accounts for 2016, ll; flllillll xl l 2 22; and it raises a lot of money. In 2016, the charity pulled on an income from its dinner and donations of over £2 million. It donates to various charities involving children and child rens health. Its chairman, bruce ritchie, and businessman david meller, who sits on the board of education and the mayors fund the london. Mr ritchie said tonight. The organisers are appalled by allegations of bad behaviour. Such behaviour is totally u na cce pta ble. The allegations will be investigated fully and appropriate action taken. The president s club hostesses had been selected by an agency. It was compered by david walliams. There were tables hosted by wpp, Property Company frogmore. Among those listed as attending were British Business figures like peterjones and tim steiner. Its not clear if all the men listed attended on the night. Also the newly appointed Education Minister. The founder of artistic events said this is a really important Charity Fundraising event. The newly appointed Education Minister said he did not stay long enough to comment on the occasion. 0thers declined did not respond to request for comment. This is an outdated event which raises money for good causes for that many of the men may not have been aware of the particular characteristics. Some expressed dismay. Still, a secretive men only event feels unusual in todays modern environment. Throw in the hostesses who reportedly had to sign nondisclosure agreements and allegations of lewd behaviour and it feels very odd indeed. Big names and big money gives the president s club mask of responsibility. But that may have masked unstatesmen like behaviour helen thomas there. We should say that theres no suggestion any of the men named engaged in inappropriate behaviour. Certainly, now we all know about the dinner, we can expect a debate about what it tells us. But lets hear from the ft reporter who acted as a hostess that night. Earlier i spoke to madison marriage. I asked her what the atmosphere was like. Incredibly loud. Huge amount of testosterone in the room. Excitable, i suppose. 130 women hired as hostesses and you could have a drink or two on the night. You could have a drink on the night. I am not an experienced hostess i have spoken to several who say that is very unusual. Did they tell you there would be some groping . How reasonable would it be that women expected what was going to happen . I was warned that people might be annoying. What was your experience of the physicality . I was groped several times. I know numerous other hostesses said the same thing had happened to them. It is hands up skirts, hands on hips, on stomachs, or arms going around your waist unexpectedly. Not high level groping. One of the strangest things you could be talking to a man and he would suddenly start to hold your hand. Where you surprised by what you found that you were told they might be annoying and you are paid a couple of hundred quid for this. Did you not think that is what you would get . This event has been running for 33 years. We knew such things went on which is why we wanted to go in there and see it for ourselves. I knew stuff like that might happen on the night but i was not 100 sure. There are plenty of other women who have no idea that was the kind of event it would be. One woman told me that she was shocked. She was asked if she was a prostitute on the night. Who were the other women . What are the others . Aspiring lawyers, marketing executives, film producers, ambitious young women. You had the students and you also have models, actresses and dancers who do a lot of hostess in work on the time to make ends meet because their work is not very regular. Your behaviour was controlled by your side of it, the agency. For example, at the toilet. I was followed and asked, where are you going and when will you be back . Be quick. At three in the morning i had done a ten hour shift and worked in an office beforehand. I was exhausted. Depressed but i had a long day ahead of me on friday. What was the worst you saw on that night . Clearly there was a lot of grabbing and groping going on. The worst i was told by a hostess was a man taking his penis out in the course of the dinner. The other one was another man telling hostess to down her glass of champagne, rip off her knickers and dance on the table. I cannot believe it still goes on in 2018, it is shocking. Some people would say, women go for it. Some go back time after time. Some women find it is fun and receive job offers. That said, i spoke to several women. Today i spoke to a woman who said it was the worstjob she had ever done in her life. If you want to run an event where women are voluntarily walking in, in knowledge they will be groped, fine, make that clear in the hiring process. That was not made clear. Many women did not have a clue what they were letting themselves in for. The Dorchester Hotel said it had a zero tolerance policy over groping of any employees. Veteran businesswoman Nicola Horlick is the chief executive of money and co. She worked in senior city jobs for many years. Are you surprised at this . I am seldom speechless but when i read that article i was somewhat speechless. I felt i was reading about something that happened a0 or 50 years ago. The lap dancing culture in which you might see this as on that kind of spectrum. Does that still go on . 0ccasionally you read about Christmas Parties where they have ended up in a lap dancing club but not on the scale it used to happen in the 80s and early 90s. I thought we had moved on from this. Wpp, their Biggest Communications company in the country have said they will not be having any association with this event in the future and they did not know about what went on. What is your impression of the clients . How do you think theyjustified to themselves sitting in something so obviously not . Their host says it is the most un pc event in the year. What do you think about them . I dont know how anyone can justify it. Can you imagine a group of women getting together and hosting a dinner getting some young guys around . You could not imagine a chippendales type thing on the stage. I dont think so but it is highly and rightly we would organise such a thing. It seems so weird, so out of keeping with the present day. The hollywood thing is slightly different. Hollywood is not organised in the way that Large Companies are. It does not have hr departments. Lots of producers are acting on their own, so you can see how that could have happened in 2017 18. With this, you have major companies, highly regarded business people. What about their wives . What will i think now they have seen this footage . This has divided viewers to women. I bet hr departments all have very good policies, written policies on employment and equal pay and then they go off and do a night like that. It is very hard to understand. One of the interesting aspects is the nondisclosure agreement. The other thing is the contracts of the hostesses saying the club should not be held liable for any actions of members, staff or attendees that amounts to harassment. Can you say they have no responsibility for whatever anyone does . You cannot sign away your rights in a contract. What does the city need to do now . For a lot of people it will be a bit of a shock. Not a shock that it was happening, the shock that it is happening. A big shock. Also that it was in aid of charity and charities like great 0rmond street and st thomass hospital are recipients of this money. They must be wondering whether their name should be associated with it. I hope this event will not be happening next year. Lets put it this way. It is 35 years since i went into the city and i am a little bit sad that things have not really changed that much. I was also interested that some women said they got some job offers from people. What is going on there . That is also quite curious. It is a strange way to go about it. Nowadays is it is terribly rigid. You cannot say i met an attractive young woman and have offered her a pajob. That sounds highly strange was even graduate recruitment is very orchestrated and it is very hard for a Senior Executive did tenor others here want this goal to work with me. In yourjunior days, sexism was rife. No, i was fortunate, i worked for a bank in the city that was a fantastic organisation, a true meritocracy, and i was made a director in my 20s and because i reach that at an early age after that people respected and fortunately i have never been put in that position but i am concerned about girls put in that position at this event. Nicola, thank you. We have to say theyre meant who did not know what was on the agenda. I understand Nadhim Zahawi was invited by david meller, the businessman, not the former conservative cabinet minister. This david meller is the director of department for education where Nadhim Zahawi was appointed minister. I understand they left this event early because they felt it was a bizarre and uncomfortable event. It is worth pointing out he has been to the event before. That is before he was elected an mp in 2010 but as i understand it he felt the event was completely different to the event he attended last week. I was told a Senior Member of David Camerons cabinet did attend this event whilst they were a member of David Camerons cabinet. I have to say i have not been able to verify that. Its been a funny old few days in politics. Just when theresa mays position was looking stable, there was sudden backbench chatter that she was lacking ambition short of ideas. Dull, dull, dull, said one, nicholas soames. And then a sudden Boris Johnson initiative pre briefing that he wanted more money invested into the nhs and would be arguing for that in cabinet. Thats not how cabinet is normally done. 0ur political editor, nick watt, is here. How did his demands go down . Asking for extra money for the nhs and then downing street keen to say no member of the cabinet mentioned any bigger. This was not a great day for borisjohnson and indeed theresa may led to the isolation of borisjohnson at this cabinet when she opened it by saying it is an important discussion by the nhs and we need to have these discussions in private and we around this cabinet table want to be able to spend the additional money the uk can spend after it leaves the eu on the nhs but now is not the time to do that and she was supported by almost every member of the cabinet apart from michael gove, still there with borisjohnson and i understand there was a very strong intervention, pointed intervention, by amber rudd, singling out Boris Johnson. What did borisjohnsons team say . It would be fair to say he is chastened this evening. He said to his friends he mucked up. Well, it rhymes with mucked. His frustrations with brexit and the way it has been negotiated are well known and he has concerns about the prime ministers overall timidity. But he is admitting the cabinet gave him a kicking. I am told he regarded amber rudds intervention as personally offensive but there is one silver lining. He believes Philip Hammonds robotic response, i gave the nhs £5 billion, means people who want in the conservative party to protect the nhs might be thinking of turning to borisjohnson rather than the chancellor. Thank you. Too many students are taking their own lives, while at university. We know it can be hard for some young people to cope, a long way from home for the first time. And it is hard forfamily and old friends to spot whats going on from miles away. The numbers have been rising shockingly over the last decade. In 2016, 146 full time students killed themselves in england and wales, almost a 60 rise over the ten years before. In a few moments, well ask the big question how can universities help students cope with the stress of self discovery, and any associated confusion, loneliness or depression . But first, lets hearfrom bristol, a city that has experienced the pain of several student suicides in the last 18 months. James clayton has been there today. Earlier this month, a third year law student studying at bristol was found dead. The university has said it was a suspected suicide. In the last 18 months, seven students are believed to have taken their lives at the university and the deaths have put the spotlight on how universities can help students with Mental Health problems. Numerous studies have found that students are increasingly reporting Mental Health illness in further education. One study by the institute for Public PolicyResearch Found students are at risk in a unique way, a cocktail of stressful factors including financial, social and academic pressures. There is a toxic mix of things impacting on this generation. That includes Unrealistic Expectations they have of themselves. This can be compounded by the fact with the advent of social media, students never have any downtime, and often feeling inadequate because what they see is the highlights of each others lives. Universities have a duty of care towards students but what that duty in tales is not clear. I think our duty of care as a university is to be alert to the fact we have increasing numbers of students with Additional Support needs. And to aim to support those students in order that they are able to engage with their studies and make the most of their time at university and also to recognise we are not a health service, as the question indicates, it can be a grey area. The University Says it is improving Pastoral Care, investing in £1 million additionally annually in a student well being service but not everybody is impressed. This is the well being editor at the bristol student newspaper. Is there an expectation students should expect Better Services including Mental Health services . Definitely, students pay so much for academic help and get their degrees so especially if you pay so much anger little back, you should think the extra staff, the support and Pastoral Care should be at least adequate. For students to feel they have somewhere safe to go. Are they adequate here . At bristol, no. I do not think. I think they recognise things need to change but they are scrambling after the rise in Mental Health issues and it should be the other way round. University students ultimately fall into a grey area. Legally adults but often onlyjust. As the Mental Health needs of young people are changing, some are increasingly looking at how universities can meet the needs of students. The question is, how big a role can they should they be playing . With me in the studio is graduate vivienne isebor, who spent months looking for Mental Health support at her university. And joining us from bristol is professor steve west, chair of universities uks working group on Mental Health in Higher Education and vice chancellor of the university of the west of england. Your experience, you had a bad time in yourfinal year, and was being at university, did it make it more difficult than being at home . Was it different being a student . The fact you are away from home, especially staying on campus, and everybody is busy, so even having friends on campus does not necessarily mean someone is checking up on you, but the stress of deadlines and trying to stay on top of things it is hard to feel connected and part of something and if you are struggling you can fall through the net and nobody realises. You can retreat and people notice you are not around as much that they do not know something is wrong . You can go under the radar and because you are busy and your parents are not able to see. The number of suicides and other Mental Health problems seem to be rising faster than student numbers. Is there an easy answer to what is going on or is itjust diagnosis and reporting . I do not think it is diagnosis and reporting, although that is getting better. 50 of School Leavers go to university, a massive increase in numbers coming into universities. The social constructs they are leaving and going into adds pressure. I think universities are beginning to recognise that we need to do more thanjust is what required in terms of statutory responsibilities. We need students to flourish and we need to do more work. Is it your contention the rise is mainlyjust because many more people are going to university and you expect more to have problems, or is there Something Else going on . There is Something Else going on because what we see is more people entering university declaring they have Mental Ill Healt