Dominic Raab and Andy McDonald Square Up On Live TV Over Party Racism

With more than a fortnight to go until the general election, tensions between members of the UK’s major political parties already seem to be at boiling point. 

So far it’s been a campaign characterised by the metaphorical pointing of fingers, but seconds after appearing in an interview on Friday evening two senior politicians – foreign secretary Dominic Raab and shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald – brought the tension between Conservatives and Labour very much to the fore. 

The pair clashed live on Sky News during coverage of the leader’s Question Time debate, confronting each other during  terse exchange about racism in each of the leading political parties. 

In the clip, which was shared online by Sky News, the pair can be seen pointing fingers at one another as McDonald calls Raab out on the Conservative’s failure to hold an inquiry specifically into Islamophobia, to which Raab responds by questioning Labour’s response to anti-Semitism. 

Speaking over each other for close to a minute as others in the room look on, McDonald says: “You’re actually putting it into the long grass, you’re refusing to do it … listen to Baroness Warsi, she’s telling you what to do about it. You should be doing it.”

Raab replies: “Two parties in this country’s history have been investigated by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – Labour under Corbyn and the BNP (British National Party).

“Answer that.”

The foreign secretary, who appears visibly frustrated, then walks away from the discussion and is quickly surrounded by members of staff.