Rishi Sunak told of Dominic Raab’s ‘unacceptable behaviour’ over summer before appointing him to cabinet, source says

Published

2 years ago

February 1, 2023

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Rishi Sunak was told about Dominic Raab’s “unacceptable behaviour” over the summer before he became prime minister and appointed the deputy PM to his cabinet role, a source has alleged to Sky News.

The source told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that Mr Sunak was made aware of Mr Raab’s conduct but the PM was never “directly told” about specific issues.

Downing Street has said Number 10 officials never advised the PM against appointing Mr Raab.

Asked whether Mr Sunak was made aware of Mr Raab’s “unacceptable behaviour” last summer before he started appointing his top team, the PM’s press secretary said: “The PM was not aware of any formal complaints at the time of appointing Dominic Raab.”

Sunak attacked for how he handled two Tory controversies – politics latest

The press secretary added that she “can’t comment on any private investigations that may or may not have happened” involving Mr Sunak.

Pressed further, she said: “I don’t know what your definition of informal complaints is. The PET (propriety and ethics team) processes are very clear.

“The appointments and usual processes were followed and we were not aware of any formal complaints.”

Mr Sunak has been urged to suspend the deputy prime minister while an investigation into bullying allegations is carried out.

The three permanent secretaries who led officials working under Mr Raab are thought to have given evidence to an inquiry into the deputy PM which is being led by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC.

A total of eight formal complaints are believed to have been made.

Mr Raab has previously insisted he has “behaved professionally at all times” amid the allegations of bullying and intimidating behaviour.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer branded Mr Sunak “weak” for keeping Mr Raab in his role.

The deputy PM was sat next to Mr Sunak in the Commons.

Sir Keir asked the PM if he was “completely unaware of serious allegations of bullying” against the deputy PM before he appointed him.

Mr Sunak replied: “The honourable gentleman ask these questions about what was known and I followed due process, I appointed an independent adviser as soon as I was made aware of new information.”

Probing further, the Labour leader continued: “According to recent reports, some of the complainants were physically sick. One says they were left suicidal.

“How would he feel if one of his friends or relatives was being forced to work for a bully, simply because the man at the top was too weak to do anything about it?”

The PM replied: “When I was made aware of formal complaints I instructed a leading independent KC to conduct an investigation because I take action when these things happen.”

Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby said the latest source allegation regarding what Mr Sunak knew about Mr Raab’s behaviour “will be worrying for those in Number 10”.

She said recent scandals – including the one involving former Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi’s taxes – have cut through with the public and by focusing on these, “Sir Keir Starmer is hoping to keep up the appearance that Rishi Sunak’s government is mired in sleaze”.

Yesterday, Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that people are getting “a bit snowflaky” about bullying allegations levelled at government ministers.

The former cabinet minister told Sky News individuals should be “careful” when talking about accusations involving those including Mr Raab.

“It’s a very difficult line to judge. It’s not a straightforward issue in most cases. It’s how did somebody react, what did somebody say, is it reasonable to demand from senior and well-paid professionals a level of good service?” he said.

“And then you have to judge whether that line has been overstepped. But I do worry we are getting a bit snowflaky about this.”

Mr Rees-Mogg added that it is “completely sensible” for Mr Raab to remain in his position while the investigation into his conduct continues.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told Sky News she disagreed with Mr Rees-Mogg’s comments.

Speaking to Kay Burley this morning, she said: “Well, I mean, I don’t agree with that. Bullying is very serious.”

His remarks were also condemned by a civil service union chief.

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union, said: “Even by Rees-Mogg’s standards this is outrageous.

“A former leader of the House, trivialising bullying that we know has ruined lives and careers.”

Sky News understands Mr Raab has spoken to Mr Tolley once about the allegations but will need to again as they proceed to go through things department by department.

The cut off date for new allegations is understood to have not yet been decided.

The Liberal Democrats have called on the PM to suspend Mr Raab while the investigation into his conduct takes place.

The party’s chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: “The reported scale of the allegations against Dominic Raab raises real questions for Rishi Sunak. Why hasn’t the prime minister suspended Raab yet, for the duration of this inquiry?”

UK

Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Published

4 mins ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Liverpool players past and present have joined the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva for their funeral in Portugal.

A service was held in the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in their hometown of Gondomar near Porto in northern Portugal on Saturday morning.

Mourners lined the streets and some in the crowd clapped as the brothers’ coffins were carried into the church.

The funeral – in pictures

Jota, 28, leaves behind his wife of only 11 days, Rute Cardoso, and three young children.

His younger brother, 25, was an attacking midfielder for Penafiel in the second tier of Portuguese football.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot, captain Virgil Van Dijk and teammates including Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez were seen at the service.

Former teammates Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho were also there.

Van Dijk carried a red wreath with Jota’s number 20, while Robertson had a wreath featuring number 30, Silva’s number at Penafiel.

Some of Jota’s teammates in the Portuguese national side also attended, including Bruno Fernandes, of Manchester United, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, of Manchester City, Joao Felix and Renato Veiga, of Chelsea, Nelson Semedo, from Wolves, Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio.

Ruben Neves was one of the pallbearers after flying in from Florida where he played for Al Hilal in the Club World Cup quarter-final on Friday night.

‘More than a friend’

In a post published on Instagram before the service, he told Jota he had been “more than a friend, we’re family, and we won’t stop being that way just because you’ve decided to sign a contract a little further away from us!”

Jota’s fellow Liverpool midfielder, Alexis Mac Allister, said on Instagram: “I can’t believe it. I’ll always remember your smiles, your anger, your intelligence, your camaraderie, and everything that made you a person. It hurts so much; we’ll miss you. Rest in peace, dear Diogo.”

Porto FC president Andre Villas-Boas and Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez were also in attendance.

‘With us forever’

Speaking after the ceremony, Martinez said the period since their deaths had been “really, really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we showed we are a large, close family.

“Their spirit will be with us forever.”

The service was private, but the words spoken by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, were broadcast to those standing outside the church.

He told Jota’s children, who were not at the service, that he was praying for them specifically, as well as their mother and grandparents.

“There are no words, but there are feelings,” he said, adding: “We also suffer a lot and we are with you emotionally.”

The brothers died after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday morning.

No other vehicles are said to have been involved in the incident.

Liverpool have delayed the return of their players for pre-season following Jota’s death and players past and present paid tribute to him and his brother on social media.

Flowers have been left outside Anfield, where flags have been lowered to half-mast and all club shops, museums and tours have been closed until Monday.

UK

Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Published

3 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

UK

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva’s funeral in pictures

Published

4 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's funeral in pictures

The family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva have been joined by Liverpool stars past and present and other Portuguese players at the pair’s funeral near Porto.

The Liverpool forward, 28, and his brother died in a car crash in Spain on Thursday.

Pictures below show the funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in the town of Gondomar near Porto. Click here for our liveblog coverage of the day’s events.