Raab sets out vision for ‘fairer deal’ from Brussels in leadership pitch
The former Brexit secretary launched a slick campaign website as he ramped up his efforts to replace Theresa May as head of the Tory Party.
Dominic Raab has stepped up his campaign for the Tory leadership, setting out his goals of cutting taxes and getting a “fairer” Brexit deal.
The former Brexit secretary launched a campaign website setting out his background as an international lawyer, family man and karate champion in a bid to woo Tory members to his cause.
In a promotional video, Mr Raab set out a desire to end “consumer rip-offs” and help young people get on the housing ladder as part of a plan to deliver “fairness”.
The former Cabinet minister, who has said he will keep a no-deal exit from the European Union on the table, said he would seek a better agreement with Brussels.
“Fairness also means getting a fairer deal from the EU as we leave, so that we are free to trade with the growth markets of the future,” he said.
In the video message, Mr Raab said: “Fairness means building a fairer society so young people have greater opportunities, whether it is to get on the housing ladder or giving them more choice, for example through degree apprenticeships.”
Highlighting his own experience, he said: “Fairness is what I have been fighting for all my working life – at the Foreign Office negotiating international agreements to bring war criminals to justice, and negotiating bilateral investment deals with the growth markets like Vietnam and Mexico, or as human rights minister fighting to prevent prisoners being given the vote to safeguard our democracy.
“We live in an age when the actions of competent leaders and good government can and should go a long way to making the world a fairer place.
“And that driving conviction, that things can and will be fairer, should be at the heart of what the future of the Conservative Party is all about.”
The DominicRaab2019.com website refers to the MP’s father, a refugee who fled Czechoslovakia in 1938, dying when Mr Raab was 12.
The Esher and Walton MP was educated at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Amersham and competed in karate for 17 years “winning two British southern region titles, and making the UK squad”.
Mr Raab and his wife Erika have two sons, Peter and Joshua, and “enjoy balancing the pressures of work and family life as a team”, the website states.
