DEPUTY Prime Minister Dominic Raab has said that he will resign should any of the bullying allegations against him be upheld.
An investigation into Raab’s behaviour during his ministerial tenure is currently underway after it was revealed earlier this month that he is facing a single official complaint representing the concerns of 27 Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials.
Former Conservative chair Jake Berry has called on Raab to step aside from his current duties while the investigation is ongoing.
The Deputy PM was asked about Berry’s comments on Sky News. He said: “Well that’s ultimately for the Prime Minister to decide.
"If an allegation is upheld then I would resign" - @DominicRaab
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) February 26, 2023
The deputy prime minister tells @SophyRidgeSky he will resign if the bullying allegations against him are upheld.#Ridge https://t.co/ZoMhCmTrtv
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/AgOnsUZT3D
“But I think actually just by lodging complaints you can knock out a Cabinet minister or senior figure I’m not sure that’s right.
“We believe in innocent until proven guilty in this country and look I’ll co-operate fully with the inquiry and I’ll respect the outcome of it.”
Host Sophy Ridge then challenged Raab on his comments, saying it was not about “knocking out” but rather about stepping aside while allegations were investigated.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer refuses to commit to handing Scotland energy powers
“Well if you believe in innocent until proven guilty, you wouldn’t want to penalise people until you’ve got the outcome and I could see why that would politicise the process of lodging complaints because you can effectively for months on end remove Cabinet members or other leading political figures”, Raab said.
Asked if he would resign, he said: “I’m not going to start speculating on what the outcome might be, again you’re asking me to comment on the subject matter.”
Raab said it was a “hypothetical question” and was again challenged on what would happen if he was not cleared.
“Look, if an allegation of bullying is upheld I would resign.”
Speaking later on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, he said civil servants are “essential” and that it works “effectively” the majority of the time.
Raab added that he didn’t think there was an “institutional, systemic problem” with bullying.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel