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 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
— Sophy Ridge on Sunday & The Take (@RidgeOnSunday) February 26, 2023
“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.
“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.
