Former cabinet minister Robert Buckland has confirmed he had a “disagreement” with Dominic Raab last summer, following reports of a bust-up between the pair.
According to The Times, Raab tried to get Buckland sacked as Welsh secretary in August when he wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph criticising his British bill of rights.
Buckland reportedly told friends about Raab’s “intimidating” and “unacceptable” behaviour.
A source close to the prime minister told the newspaper said it was “untrue” that Sunak was aware of the claims.
At the time Raab was in his first term as justice secretary, under Boris Johnson. He was removed from the post by Liz Truss but then reappointed by Rishi Sunak.
It comes amid sustained pressure on Sunak to sack Raab over multiple allegations of bullying, accusations the justice secretary and deputy prime minister denies.
Speaking to LBC on Monday morning, Buckland said: “Dominic and I have a disagreement about his bill of rights, clearly he wasn’t going to agree with the article that I did write in the Telegraph.
“I was talking about the government to come – that is the government post-Boris Johnson, and felt that it was entirely appropriate to do that.
“There are robust disagreements in politics. I’m old enough and ugly enough to hold my own corner, and Dominic is known for his robustness as well. There was a disagreement, but we’ve moved on.
“I very much hope that the bill of rights is radically reformed, by the way, and that we have a more measured set of reforms, and that debate will carry on.”
Buckland was Johnson’s first justice secretary, serving in the post from July 2019 until September 2021.
The bill of rights has come in for heavy criticism, with MPs recently warning it would make it easier for the state to commit human rights violations.