'Were you in the front passenger seat when the PM crashed the car into a ditch?'

18 November 2021, 08:42 | Updated: 18 November 2021, 09:11

Raab quizzed on Tory sleaze

By EJ Ward

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has told LBC "we're all in it together" when asked if he was in the front passenger seat when Boris Johnson "crashed the car into a ditch" over sleaze.

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari, Mr Raab said: "I think we're all in it together. I take full responsibility as we do in Government, we've got collective responsibility, but fundamentally we're fixing this problem now.

"All MPs will be covered by this, every single one will be covered by a bar on acting as paid political consultants or lobbyists and a limit so that outside interests don't eclipse the overriding focus, which should be on serving constituency priorities."

The Speaker loses his cool at Boris Johnson

Mr Raab's comments come after the Prime Minister faced questions on multiple fronts over his handling of the crisis.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Johnson was rebuked by the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, as he stood in front of emptier than usual Government benches.

The Government managed to win an amendment to allow proposals on the banning of paid consultancy roles to go ahead, but just 297 MPs backed the move - fewer than half of the total.

Mr Johnson also faced the Commons Liaison Committee of senior MPs, where he admitted mistakes had been made.

Johnson branded "a coward, not a leader" by Starmer

And Bloomberg reported he told members of the backbench 1922 Committee of Tory MPs "on a clear road I crashed the car into a ditch" over the saga.

The bruising day for the Government was the culmination of weeks of pressure over standards in politics, prompted by a botched attempt to save former MP for North Shropshire Owen Paterson from suspension.