THE chief executive of Oxfam will need to prove he understands the scale of the charity’s failings if he is to survive the sex scandal engulfing it, Ruth Davidson has warned.

The Scottish Tory leader accused Mark Goldring of an “arrogant response” last week, when he said critics were “gunning” for Oxfam and no one had “murdered babies in their cots”.

Oxfam has been heavily criticised for its handling of claims that staff hired prostitutes in Haiti in 2011, and the UK government has turned off its funding pending reforms.

Mr Davidson said Mr Goldring’s remarks showed “he doesn’t get it” and needed to change.

Aid workers “raping children for food” belonged in “the lowest circle of hell”, and charities should report them to the authorities, not prioritise protecting their reputation, she said.

Asked on ITV’s Peston on Sunday if Mr Goldring should quit, she said: “If he wants to lead Oxfam he has to demonstrate that he understand what Oxfam has done wrong.”

Facing a grilling by MPs over Oxfam’s response to allegations its staff sexually assaulted those they were meant to help, Mr Goldring apologised in a newspaper article.

Oxfam needed to “win back the trust” of the British public, he admitted in the Sunday Mirror.

He wrote: “We are sorry for the mistakes we have made. We should have been more open with the public about the fact that staff in Haiti were fired for sexual abuse.

“As an organisation that fights for women's rights, the abuse of women in Oxfam's name is particularly hard to bear. We know we need to learn and change.”

He said Oxfam had started reforms to safeguard against sexual exploitation in future.

It comes as a Scottish mine-clearing charity made famous by Princess Diana has suspended a member of staff over a sexual assault allegation.

Dumfriesshire-based Halo Trust said it removed the junior employee last month pending an investigation and immediately informed the British government and charity regulator.

The man, who denies the allegation, is based in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

The Halo Trust was endorsed last week by Ms Davidson when she visited one of its mine-clearing operations in Kabul in Afghanistan.

Since its profile was boosted by Diana, Princess of Wales, visiting its operations in Angola in 1997, the charity has grown into the world’s largest humanitarian mine clearance organisation, employing around 8000 people in 20 countries.

A spokesman for the Halo Trust said: “In Myanmar, a junior Burmese member of staff was suspended in January this year and is currently being investigated following an allegation of sexual assault. He denies the allegation.

"The local British Embassy and DFID were informed within 24 hours of the allegation. The Charity Commission has been informed. We take such allegations extremely seriously.”

Brendan Cox, widower of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was murdered in 2016, has resigned from two charities he set up in her memory over sexual misconduct allegations.

He left posts at More in Common and the Jo Cox Foundation after admitting “inappropriate” behaviour while previously working for Save in the Children.

The Mail on Sunday claimed he had drunkenly assaulted a fellow worker outside a bar in London, leading to him being forced to leave the charity in 2015.

Mr Cox said: “I want to apologise deeply and unreservedly for my past behaviour and for the hurt and offence that I have caused. During my time at Save the Children I made mistakes and behaved in a way that caused some women hurt and offence. That was never malicious but it was certainly inappropriate.”

He continues to deny assaulting a woman at Harvard University in 2015.

Kim Leadbeater, Ms Cox’s sister, said: “As a family we will support Brendan as he endeavours to do the right thing by admitting mistakes he may have made in the past, and we respect him for doing so. We all make mistakes. Brendan is a wonderful father and I have no doubt about the happiness he brought to Jo.”