A viral video has annihilated Dominic Raab’s claims that Boris Johnson did not break the ministerial code during the Partygate saga.
As the government’s ethics chief reportedly threatened to quit over the scandal, the deputy prime minister said on Wednesday that Johnson had “unintentionally” and “inadvertently” broken the law by attending the gathering.
He claimed this did not amount to a breach of the ministerial code, despite the prime minister’s ethics chief – Lord Geidt – querying whether it had been.
And Raab suggested there would not be a confidence vote on Johnson’s leadership next week.
He told Sky News: “I just don’t see that. I think the Westminster bubble and village whips this stuff up. I’m not saying it’s not serious and significant. But we dealt with all of those issues, the prime minister has dealt with all those issues.”
‘Complete bollocks’
Speaking to broadcasters, Raab said Geidt had “made clear a number of concerns but the prime minister has addressed them in his response and in particular made clear the explanation that he didn’t believe he’d broken the ministerial code.
“In relation to the single fixed-penalty notice, it had been an unintentional breach of the law and inadvertent in the sense that he turned up to the gathering without having realised it would be in breach of the relevant regulations.”
But campaigner Peter Stefanovic called out Raab’s assertions as “complete bollocks” in a viral Twitter video on Wednesday morning.
“The ministerial code is clear,” he said. “Ministers of the Crown are expected to maintain high standards of behaviour and behave in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety.
“The prime minister has overseen widespread criminality in Downing Street. It’s now the most-fined workplace in the country for lockdown law-breaking. He’s been fined by the police himself… and he’s misled the public and Parliament about it all.
“If that doesn’t amount to a breach of the ministerial code, what does?”
Watch the full video below.
Related: Raab torn apart by Kay Burley over Partygate claims