Analysis: Raab on the ropes
Standing by Dominic Raab will mean expending political capital on a Justice Secretary accused of breaking the rules while Labour attacks Rishi Sunak on law and order, writes Sascha O’Sullivan
Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, was yesterday the subject of a particularly sensitive jibe from Keir Starmer, who accused him of being too preoccupied with “fighting for his own job”.
Today, a report on claims of bullying at the hands of Raab was handed to the Prime Minister, and Rishi Sunak will have to decide if the ministerial rules were broken, and if that warrants his sacking.
Under Boris Johnson a breach of the ministerial code was hardly a reason for dismissal. And even Sunak, who has a stricter approach to governance than the PM he used to work for, reappointed Suella Braverman after she admitted to breaking the rules over a security breach – a pretty serious allegation.
Today, a series of top civil servants handed an ultimatum to the Prime Minister, telling the Guardian they would resign if Raab wasn’t sacked.
This actually makes it harder for Sunak to turf out his deputy, with Tory insiders starting to spin the idea that if Raab is now dismissed, it will be done as a kind of “hostage negotiation” with Whitehall.
And if there’s anything the Conservative Party hates, it’s civil servants puffed up on their own importance.
But keeping Raab if he is found to have breached the ministerial code is difficult for Sunak, who is facing allegations of covering up the truth himself.
Labour are trying to dig into the exposed political flanks of the Conservative party and one of the big ones is law and order.
Sunak has already been fined for parties during lockdown, and now struggling to fend of accusations he failed to register an interest in a childcare provider with a government contract, Koru Kids, which his wife has a stake in.
Political capital is in short supply, and no doubt an analytical politician like Sunak’s can see that keeping on a Justice Secretary charged with breaking the rules is poor use of what is left.