Dominic Raab has said he will resign if an ongoing investigation confirms allegations of bullying against him. The deputy prime minister was questioned on Sunday about the complaints on Sky’s Sophy Ridge – and asked if he would quit, replied: “I would.”
Justice Minister Raab, who is also the former foreign minister, initially argued that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would ultimately decide his political future.
He also declined to comment on the investigation’s timeline, saying he did not want to prejudge the findings.
He added: “If you believe in innocent until proven guilty, you don’t want to punish people until you have the outcome.”
“We believe in innocent until proven guilty in this country and I will fully cooperate with the investigation and I will respect the outcome.”
Asked if he would then resign if the complaint is upheld, Mr Raab initially said he would not speculate on what the outcome might be.
However, when prompted further, he said, “Allow me, of course, to respond appropriately at the appropriate time. Look, if an allegation of bullying is upheld, I will resign.”
Speaking to BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg program later, Mr Raab denied he was a bully, but said he had learned lessons from his dealings with officials in the past.
Asked if he had ever thought about his dealings with staff and felt he “shouldn’t have reacted that way”, the Justice Minister said: “Look, in terms of style of work he falls short in the impropriety you refer to, look of course we learn lessons as we go.
“That is part of the relationship with officials. But I am confident that I have behaved professionally all along.”
He added: “I think the lion’s share of the time, the vast majority of cases and the time we spend together, officials and ministers work together very effectively.”
When asked if there should be “clearer speaking in politics”, he replied: “Yes, absolutely.
“What we need, and I think this can absolutely be reconciled with a zero tolerance of bullying, do you need ministers to come in and correctly but directly challenge assumptions, test ideas – that’s how we get the best out of the government to fetch. “