Dominic Raab should be suspended pending an investigation into eight bullying allegations against him, a former Tory chairman has suggested.
Jake Berry said people in “the real world” do not understand why he allowed to carry on as justice secretary and deputy prime minister while the probe is going on.
It emerged yesterday that Raab is facing five fresh bullying claims relating to his previous spell as justice secretary.
They have been added to the three previous allegations already being investigated by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC.
However, Raab is being allowed to continue in his government roles while that takes place.
Speaking on Talk TV last night, Berry said: “I think it’s quite hard for the public to understand that there’s an independent process that’s been put in place by the government.
“It may be the correct way of doing it, and it’s absolutely right that Dominic has a fair hearing for eight allegations in total.
“But in truth I think the problem for the government in this developing story is, if you work in Aldi or Asda and you had allegations like this against you, you would be suspended pending investigation.”
Asked if he thinks the PM should suspend Raab, Berry said: “I’m not saying he should lose his job, but I don’t think just having an internal investigation is actually going to satisfy the public.”
He added: “When I was chairman, the view we took was [to] ask people to step aside while the investigation took place.
“In the real world people would look at this and say ‘it doesn’t feel right’.”
It is not the first time Berry - a close ally of Boris Johnson who was sacked as Tory chairman by Rishi Sunak when he became prime minister - has been critical of the government.
Last month he joined a backbench rebellion against the ban on new onshore windfarm developments.
He has also warned that Sunak has just six months to turn around his party’s fortunes.
And elsewhere in last night’s Talk TV appearance, he said the government’s pay offer to nurses was “too low” and called on ministers to come up with more cash to end their strike action.
On the decision not to suspend Raab, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We think the right approach is to let the independent investigator do their work and not pre-empt that process.
“We will continue to abide by the process and not pre-judge it.”
He also said the PM retains confidence in his deputy.