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Dominic Raab declares he is boycotting Winter Olympics in China
5 December 2021, 11:13 | Updated: 5 December 2021, 11:39
Dominic Raab confirms he won't attend Beijing games
The Deputy Prime Minister tells LBC that he will be boycotting the 2022 Beijing Olympics amid concerns of human rights abuses.
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Tom Swarbrick asked Justice Secretary Dominic Raab for his position on boycotting the Winter Olympics in Beijing, following on from his party colleague Sir Iain Duncan-Smith's comments to Andrew Castle.
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Calls to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics have come following parliamentary reports of a genocide being committed by the Chinese Communist Party against the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
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Calls were boosted recently by concern around the safety and whereabouts of superstar Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who has remained in China since making allegations of sexual abuse against a senior CCP official.
Mr Raab declared that "the decision to send athletes is one for sporting committees" and advocated for a "depoliticised approach to sporting events"
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Tom wondered whether the Justice Secretary would welcome a "diplomatic boycott" of the games.
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Mr Raab reminded Tom that he pioneered the UK's Magnitsky sanctioning system as a method of punishing diplomats from nations guilty of human rights abuses.
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"I can tell you categorically I will not be attending the Winter Olympic Games" he declared.
When quizzed on whether his Conservative colleagues would follow his lead, the Deputy Prime Minister said "I can't speak for all of them but I can tell you that I won't."
