Dominic Raab has refused to say he would lift a nondisclosure agreement he entered into as part of a settlement with a woman former colleague.



BuzzFeed News asked the Tory leadership candidate directly if he would be willing to release the woman from the confidentiality provisions after one of his most high-profile supporters, MP Maria Miller, told the BBC that the claims of bullying made against him were “vexatious”.

Miller, who is the the chair of Parliament's women and equalities committee, made the comments during an interview about the findings of a report by her committee that criticised the use of nondisclosure agreements to cover up complaints of discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

Raab, the former Brexit secretary, was asked to respond with a yes or no to whether he would be happy to lift the confidentiality agreement, which was contracted in 2007 and was at the centre of a libel case in 2012, if the other parties agreed too — but he did not directly address the question.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Raab told BuzzFeed News: "The right time for the confidentiality obligations to be lifted on both sides for a fair and balanced airing of the dispute was before the court back in 2012."

Echoing his previous remarks on the subject, Raab told BuzzFeed News that “any accusations of bullying, harassment or any other impropriety on my part are completely false”.

The existence of the agreement means that the woman is unable to respond to Miller's and Raab’s comments.

Raab tweeted Monday night that it was important that candidates for the highest office face scrutiny.