Rishi Sunak has rejected growing calls to suspend Dominic Raab after the bullying inquiry into the deputy UK prime minister widened to eight formal allegations.
Downing Street said the British prime minister retains full confidence in his ally after a former Tory party chairman suggested Mr Raab should not remain in government during the investigation.
Labour and the Lib Dems demanded his suspension after five fresh complaints relating to the UK justice secretary’s conduct were passed to the senior lawyer handling the inquiry.
Sir Jake Berry, party chairman under Liz Truss, argued keeping Mr Raab in post is a “hard line” for the UK government and said any typical supermarket worker would be suspended while under investigation.
But the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We think the right approach while we establish the facts of these claims is to allow the independent investigator to do their work.
“This is someone with extensive experience in their area, and not to pre-empt or prejudge that process.”
Asked if the prime minister has full confidence in Mr Raab, the official responded: “Yes.”
Mr Sunak referred the latest complaints, all of which are believed to relate to Mr Raab’s first stint as justice secretary, to Adam Tolley KC’s investigation.
Former Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry says he doesn't think an internal investigation into the behaviour of Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab will "satisfy the public."@tnewtondunn | @JakeBerry pic.twitter.com/L5CAxCYGgD
— First Edition (@FirstEdition) December 14, 2022
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One complaint about his conduct in the role was already being investigated, as were two others lodged about his time as foreign secretary and Brexit secretary.
Mr Berry, an ally of Boris Johnson, argued that if you worked at Aldi or Asda “and you had allegations like that against you, you would be suspended pending investigation”.
“I actually think it’s quite a hard line for the Government to maintain to say there are now eight allegations in relation to unacceptable behaviour in the workplace which are denied by Dominic Raab,” he told Talk TV.
“But there are now eight allegations and they haven’t taken any further action than setting up some independent panel which I don’t think people, including me, really understand.
“I’m not saying he should lose his job. But I don’t think just having an internal investigation is actually going to satisfy the public.”
Mr Raab insisted he “behaved professionally throughout”, but the more than doubling of the number of formal complaints was a blow to his attempts to clear his name.
