Month: May 2023

His decision, first reported in The Telegraph, comes a month after he resigned as a minister when a bullying inquiry found he had acted in an “intimidating” way towards officials.

The paper quotes Mr Raab as saying he is concerned about “the pressure the job has placed on my young family”.

Mr Raab and his wife have two sons, aged 10 and eight.

Since becoming an MP in 2010, Mr Raab has served in many ministerial roles.

In 2018 then-prime minister Theresa May appointed him as Brexit secretary, a job he quit less than six months later.

Boris Johnson picked him to be his foreign secretary and first secretary of state – the latter role meant he was left in charge of running the country when Mr Johnson was hospitalised with Covid in April 2020.

Mr Raab has also been a close ally of Rishi Sunak, supporting him in last summer’s Conservative leadership race.

Mr Sunak rewarded his loyalty when he became prime minister, making Mr Raab both his justice secretary and deputy prime minister.

Mr Raab confirmed to BBC News that he would not seek re-election as the MP for Esher and Walton, which he has represented since 2010 and won with a majority of 2,743 votes in 2019.

In a letter from Mr Raab to his constituency, seen by the Telegraph, the MP said it had been a “huge honour to represent the Conservatives since 2010 in this wonderful constituency”.

His departure from Parliament means the Conservatives will have to find a new candidate for the Surrey constituency – which is a key election target for the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Raab joins a growing number of senior Conservatives deciding not to stand in the next general election, expected in 2024.

Former ministers including Sajid Javid and George Eustice have also announced their intention to leave the House of Commons.

Mr Raab was at the centre of months of speculation when bullying allegations from civil servants led to an inquiry into the MP’s conduct.

The report – conducted by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC – concluded Mr Raab had engaged in an “abuse or misuse of power” as foreign secretary.

The findings prompted Mr Raab to step down, but in his resignation letter he noted that the inquiry “dismissed all but two of the claims levelled against me”.

He also said the inquiry was “flawed and sets a dangerous precedent” and would “encourage spurious complaints against ministers, and have a chilling effect on those driving change on behalf of your government – and ultimately the British people”.

Responding to his decision to quit as an MP, fellow Conservative Angela Richardson tweeted: “His constituents will miss his dedication. I am happy for his young family though. This job is tough enough on family life as a simple backbencher, let alone being in Cabinet.”

The working group meeting is being held in Srinagar, the summer capital of the federally administrated territory, from Monday to Wednesday.

This is the biggest international event organised in the region since India scrapped its special status in 2019.

Over 60 delegates from G20 member countries are expected to attend the event.

China, however, has said it will not attend, citing its firm opposition “to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory”. The BBC has emailed India’s foreign ministry for its response to China’s statement.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it. The nuclear-armed neighbours have already fought two wars and a limited conflict over the region.

In April, Pakistan, which is not a G20 member, had criticised India’s decision to hold the meetings in Kashmir, calling it an “irresponsible” move.

India, however said, that it was “natural” to hold G20 events and meetings in “Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which are an integral and inalienable part” of the country.

In 2019, India had divided the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir to create two federally administrated territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Ladakh is a disputed frontier region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, and both countries claim parts of it.

In the days leading up to the G20 event, India had conducted several security drills in Kashmir. The region has seen an armed insurgency against India since 1989 – India accuses Pakistan of fomenting the unrest by backing separatist militants, a charge denied by Islamabad.

The region has witnessed increased attacks by suspected militants this year and security officers have told the media that they are taking steps to prevent any threats designed to derail the meet.

Elite security forces – including marine commandos, National Security Guards, Border Security Force and police forces – have been deployed in Kashmir to provide ground-to-air security cover, according to reports.

Security has also been boosted around the Dal Lake and the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, which is the venue for the meeting.

Several schools in Srinagar have also been closed, some for as long as nine days, according to reports. Military bunkers, a common sight in Kashmir, have been covered with G20 banners to hide them from view.

Local opposition leaders, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, have criticised the elaborate security arrangements and accused the federal government of making life even more difficult for ordinary people. In a press conference, Ms Mufti compared the restrictions in Kashmir ahead of G20 to that of the notorious US military prison, Guantanamo Bay. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has not responded to this yet.

Last week, Fernand de Varennes, the UN’s special rapporteur on minority issues, had issued a statement saying that the G20 was “unwittingly providing a veneer of support to a facade of normalcy” when human rights violations, political persecution and illegal arrests were escalating in Kashmir. The statement was criticised by India’s permanent mission at the UN on Twitter.

India has said it will showcase the cultural heritage of Kashmir and promote its tourism potential during the meeting. Delegates will be taken on sightseeing tours and there will be discussions on strategies to promote “film tourism”, according to an official statement.

The G20, which includes the world’s 19 wealthiest nations plus the European Union, accounts for 85% of global economic output and two-thirds of its population.

India currently holds the presidency – which rotates annually between members – and is set to host the G20 summit in Delhi in September.

His centre-right New Democracy party were heading for almost 41% of the vote, five seats short of a majority.

His centre-left rival Alexis Tsipras congratulated him, with his Syriza party set for a poor result of 20%.

Mr Mitsotakis said the result showed that Greeks had given his party a mandate for a four-year government.

“The people wanted the choice of a Greece run by a majority government and by New Democracy without the help of others,” he said in a victory speech.

Hours earlier party supporters in Athens cheered as an exit poll indicated the unexpected scale of New Democracy’s victory. As results emerged, it was clear that pre-election polls had underestimated the 20-point margin between the two main parties.

Mr Mitsotakis’s party won 146 seats, five seats short of the 151 required for a majority. An interior ministry vote map showed all but one of Greece’s electoral districts coloured in New Democracy blue.

The prime minister’s remarks were taken as indication that he would not look to share power with another party but go for a second election in late June, when the winning party picks up bonus seats.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will offer him a mandate to form a coalition, which he is likely to refuse. She will then pass it to the next two parties, and if that fails she will arrange a caretaker government until new elections.

The result was an immense setback for Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, who described his party’s performance as “extremely negative”. He came to power in 2015 campaigning against the austerity of international bailouts, but ultimately agreed to creditors’ demands.

The centre-right has governed Greece for the past four years, and can boast that the country’s growth last year was close to 6%.

Mr Mitsotakis’s pitch to the nation was that only he could be trusted to steer the Greek economy forward and consolidate recent growth. Greeks appear to have responded positively – more than expected.

Giorgos Adamopoulos, 47, voted for New Democracy a few hundred metres from the Acropolis in Athens.

Greece deserved a better form of politics, he told the BBC, but he backed Mr Mitsotakis because he was impressed with his record after four years as prime minister.

Four years ago winning 41% of the vote would have been enough to secure a majority in Greece’s 300-seat parliament.

Now it requires more than 45%, because the winning party is no longer entitled to a 50-seat bonus in the first round, making a re-run more likely.

Mr Mitsotakis will have his eye on the extra seats he would be entitled to if he won the second election. An outright majority would give him four years in power with a cabinet of his choice.

If he were to seek coalition talks, then Syriza’s socialist rival Pasok would be a potential partner, as one of the election’s big winners with 11.5% of the vote.

But that would prove tricky as Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis was the target of a wiretap scandal last year.

It led to the resignations of a nephew of Mr Mitsotakis, who was working as the prime minister’s chief of staff, and also of the head of Greek intelligence.

Mr Androulakis believes the prime minister was aware he was one of the dozens of people targeted with illegal spyware.

Mr Mitsotakis comes from one of Greece’s most powerful political dynasties.

His father Konstantinos Mitsotakis was himself prime minister in the early 1990s; his sister Dora Bakoyannis was foreign minister and her son Kostas Bakoyannis is the current mayor of Athens.

In the end a rail tragedy in February that overshadowed the election campaign played no obvious role in the result.

Fifty-seven people died in the disaster, many of them students. Opposition parties highlighted the tragedy as a symptom of a dysfunctional state pared down to the bone after years of economic crisis and under-investment.

Greeks have the right to vote from the age of 17, and an initial analysis of voting by Greek TV suggested that 31.5% of voters aged 17-24 backed ND, almost three points higher than Syriza.

First-time voters Chrysanthi and Vaggelis, both 18, voted for Syriza because their generation wanted “something new, something different”.

The home secretary sought advice via civil servants and an aide about arranging a private speed awareness course while attorney general in 2022.

A government source has denied her actions broke the ministerial code.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister should order his adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to investigate whether rules were broken.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Sir Keir said it looked like “inappropriate action took place” from the home secretary that “needs to be fully investigated”.

“The usual consequence of breaking the ministerial code is that you’ll go,” he added.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner also called on the prime minister to “show some backbone” and order Sir Laurie to “get to the bottom of this episode”.

Mr Sunak, who has been in Japan for the G7 summit, will speak to his ethics adviser on his return. Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a minister until the prime minister gives it the go-ahead.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for an investigation and said Mr Sunak needed to make a statement in Parliament about the claims.

Meanwhile, Mrs Braverman is due in the Commons on Monday afternoon for Home Office questions.

She was caught speeding last summer, and faced three points on her licence and a fine, or a course as part of a group.

The home secretary is under scrutiny, not over the speeding offence itself, but over whether she acted properly in trying to arrange a one-to-one awareness course.

A government source told the BBC the senior minister had been “concerned” about her insurance premiums, and favoured doing a course.

She asked civil servants about arranging a course for just her, citing security concerns about doing one as part of a group, but was told it was not a matter for the civil service.

Mrs Braverman then asked a special adviser to try to arrange a private course.

When the course provider told her there was no option to do this – and after she was reappointed home secretary in Mr Sunak’s government – she opted to pay the fine and accept the points because she was “very busy” and did not have the time to do a course, the BBC has been told.

The same government source refused to say whether Mrs Braverman’s motivation to do the course in private was to reduce the chances of her being recognised by members of the public.

The ministerial code sets standards of conduct expected of ministers, including that they must uphold the political impartiality of the civil service.

Speaking to the Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4, former senior civil servant Sir Philip Rycroft said Mrs Braverman’s reported actions appeared to be a “real lapse of judgement”.

“Obviously, there’s still investigations to be done and so on but the code is very clear. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests.

“Even asking a question of a civil servant as to how she might go on one of these courses puts them in an impossible position.”

Mr Sunak apparently did not know anything about the story the until it was first reported in the Sunday Times. and he declined to say whether he would be ordering an investigation, when asked at the G7 summit.

Speaking at a news conference, he also declined to say he backed Mrs Braverman – but a Downing Street source later said that “of course” he did.

“I don’t know the full details of what has happened, nor have I spoken to the home secretary,” Mr Sunak said.

“But I understand she has expressed regret for speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine.”

After serving as attorney general between February 2020 and September 2022, Mrs Braverman was promoted to home secretary under Liz Truss.

She resigned on October 19 after sending an official document from a personal email to a backbench MP – describing it as a “technical infringement of the rules”. But she was reappointed to the same role by Mr Sunak six days later following the collapse of the Truss government.

A source close to the home secretary said: “Mrs Braverman accepted three points for a speeding offence which took place last summer.

“The Cabinet Office was made aware of the situation as requested by Mrs Braverman. She was not and is not disqualified from driving.”

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on the existence or content of advice between government departments.”