Rudd was sexist to say I flounced out, says Raab

DOMINIC Raab accused Amber Rudd of sexism yesterday after she said that men at Westminster ‘seem to flounce out quite a lot’.

The former Brexit secretary, who quit last month over Theresa May’s deal, said the comments from the Work and Pensions Secretary sounded a ‘bit sexist’ to him.

When pressed about Miss Rudd’s ‘flounce’ phrase, Mr Raab replied: ‘Amber does this every now and again.

‘She did it during the referendum when she personalised an attack on Boris Johnson. I’m not sure if that’s aimed at me. It sounded frankly a bit sexist to me. The reality is, I stood up and tried to make it work.

‘But I couldn’t in good conscience go to Brussels and sign a deal with Michel Barnier that I feel would be so damaging to the British economy and devastating to our democracy.’

Speaking to Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News, Mr Raab also accused UK officials of not doing enough to prevent the inclusion of the Irish backstop in the deal.

He said he suspected the deal will be voted down but could still be ‘remedied’ if the EU was willing to look again at the backstop.

After saying there were moments the UK could have ‘pressed harder’ on the backstop during the talks, Mr Raab said: ‘You could see this backstop issue coming down the line. It was obvious. It wasn’t a shock or a surprise.’

He continued: ‘What I am suggesting is that there is probably more flexibility than is being suggested and actually we should have taken a robust line back then and we certainly should be taking one now.’

Asked about Mrs May’s future, he said: ‘I think she could still, even in the event of a big loss on the vote – which we expect – I think she could still turn it round. But we need a change of approach.

‘She needs to go back with a, if you like, a best final offer to the EU.’

Mr Raab also said he would not rule himself out of running for leader but stressed he would not ‘get sucked into that debate’.