‘I’m not going to second guess the decisions of editors’
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has defended the editor of the Mail on Sunday for refusing to meet with the Speaker of the House of commons to discuss a “misogynistic” story about Angela Rayner.
Sir Lindsay had summoned the newspaper’s editor David Dillon to a meeting – after the paper published claims made by a Tory MP that Rayner crosses and uncrosses her legs, in hopes of distracting Johnson in the Commons.
The story was widely condemned as sexist by MPs across all political parties and prompted a discussion about misogyny in Westminster.
In his response to the Speaker, published in the Daily Mail, Dillon said he would not be attending as journalists should “not take instruction from officials of the House of Commons, however august they may be”.
“The Mail on Sunday deplores sexism and misogyny in all its forms,” he wrote.
“However journalists must be free to report what they are told by MPs about conversations which take place in the House of Commons, however unpalatable some may find them.”
Speaking on Wednesday morning, the Justice Secretary said he thought it was the “prerogative” of editors to decide how they would treat such an invitation.
“I’m not going to second guess the decisions of editors,” Raab told Sky News.
“I think it was a legitimate thing for Lindsay Hoyle to do to invite him and, of course, it’s the prerogative of any editor to decide how they treat that invitation,” he said.
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