DOMINIC Raab was caught in a repeated gaffe on Sky News while defending Boris Johnson as he repeatedly misnamed the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser.
Raab was doing the media rounds on Wednesday morning when he repeatedly called Lord Geidt "Lord Gate".
A clip of the mistake made its way to Twitter where the Justice Secretary was mocked for his error.
Could someone please tell Dominic Raab that the PM's ethics adviser's name is Lord Geidt & not Lord Gate.#KayBurley #BBCBreakfast #GMB #r4today pic.twitter.com/A0q7MXbGjz
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) June 1, 2022
Meanwhile, Raab was defending the Prime Minister’s position as pressure on Johnson mounts in the Commons as more Tory MPS hand in letters of no confidence.
The Justice Secretary said he thinks it is “not that simple” that Johnson receiving a fine for breaking lockdown rules means he has broken the ministerial code.
He went on to say that questions around whether the Prime Minister had broken the ministerial code “have been answered”.
Outlining why he believes Boris Johnson has not broken the ministerial code, Raab told Sky News: “Lord Geidt raised that issue and the PM has responded to the letter and he’s been clear that in relation to the single fixed penalty notice he hadn’t intentionally broken the law and his attendance at that gathering, as has been well rehearsed, was inadvertent.
“So Lord Geidt is really important, he is a senior figure. We’ve actually been working for months to reinforce his role, that’s been done by agreement between No 10 and Lord Geidt, but actually I think those questions have been answered, both in general but also now specifically in the letter the PM has sent and, as I said, we’re getting on with the job.”
Raab’s comments come amid speculation that Geidt will resign in the wake of the ongoing scandal. The Justice Secretary addressed these rumours while speaking to Times Radio saying he wasn’t “privy to the conversation”.
He said: “I wasn’t privy to the conversation.
“He’s 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.”
With the Prime Minister’s position looking increasingly less secure, Raab looked to downplay the threat to Johnson’s leadership.
He said that the number of letters submitted to the 1922 committee was “pretty far off” the 54 mark required to trigger a vote of no confidence in Johnson.
Speaking to Times Radio, Raab said: “First of all, you said that there were 30 MPs who have been public (in their criticism of the Prime Minister). There’s of course well over 350-odd Conservative MPs.”
Presenter Aasmah Mir responded: “Well you need to get to 54, so it’s not that far off, is it?”
Raab said: “Well, if you’re at 30, which is what you’ve just said, I think you’re pretty far off, but my point is even then, in terms of the support for the PM, the overwhelming majority have not been public about these kind of criticisms."
This comes amid reports that Downing Street has launched a campaign to bolster support among Tory MPs for the Prime Minister.
