UK Foreign Sec Raab branded ‘a liar’ over claims he warned of ‘no-deal’ Brexit during EU referendum

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been accused of lying after media fact-checking teams found no evidence that he raised the possibility of a no-deal Brexit during the 2016 EU referendum campaign, as claimed.

During an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Monday, Raab claimed he and other Brexiteers “made clear” during the campaign that if a good deal could not be struck with the EU then “we should go on and make a success of Brexit.”

However, the BBC’s Reality Check team said on Wednesday that they had found “no clear examples of Mr Raab talking about the possibility of a no-deal exit.” Channel 4’s FactCheck also found “no evidence” in a report published Monday.

It has prompted many pro-EU Remainers to accuse Raab on social media of trying to rewrite history. Femi Oluwole, a prominent activist and co-founder of the pro-EU advocacy group ‘Our Future, Our Choice,’ took to Twitter to brand Raab “a morally vacuous liar.”

Others suggested that if they had failed to tell the truth at work then they would lose their job, but in the case of Raab he gets promoted to British foreign secretary.

So, no evidence of his EU referendum no-deal assertions, but what has been ascertained is that the former Brexit secretary insisted, during the campaign, that there was “no doubt” the UK would negotiate an agreement with Brussels.

“We’re the fifth biggest economy in the world… Of course we’d strike a new deal, and relatively soon, with transitional arrangements if necessary,” Raab told the BBC in March 2016.

It comes as the UK government, led by PM Boris Johnson, ratchets up tensions with the Republic of Ireland over the contentious ‘backstop.’ Johnson wants it abolished, while Taoiseach (Irish PM) Leo Varadkar insists that it is “necessary” to uphold the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

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