Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Former Housing Minister Dominic Raab has been appointed the new Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, following the resignation of David Davis late last night.
Raab, a lawyer and former diplomat, succeeds Davis at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) on an extraordinary day in Westminster that saw Boris Johnson resign as Foreign Secretary.
According to the Financial Times, Raab is a ‘leading Tory Eurosceptic’ whose appointment ‘maintains the delicate status quo between Eurosceptics and Europhiles in Theresa May’s cabinet.’
Raab previously served in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for six years, between 2000 and 2006, including a spell at the Hague working on war crimes cases.
In 2016, he argued in a comment piece for The Times that the best strategy for the UK in the Brexit negotiations would be to “tee” up international trade deals that placed pressure on the EU.
“British trade emissaries might stop off in Japan, the fifth biggest exporter of cars to the UK, to explain that we’d like to buy more of their Mazdas — shorn of the EU’s 10 per cent tariff on cars,” he wrote. “Continental carmakers, used to a protected slice of the UK market, will take note.”
According to the DExEU website, Raab’s responsibilities will include ‘policy work’ to support the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union, and ‘conducting the negotiations in support of the Prime Minister.’
Asia House runs a Brexit series to provide insights and analysis on the UK’s exit from the European Union.
