A former colleague of Dominic Raab has leapt to his defence, saying he was tried by a “kangaroo court”.

Tim Smith, a former Australian MP who worked alongside the ex-Justice Secretary told GB News: “Dominic Raab, I worked with him. Dominic Raab is tough, but Dominic Raab is fair and I don’t think Dominic Raab has been afforded procedural fairness in this case.

“If Dominic Raab was an employee of the Department of Justice, he may well have an unfair dismissal claim against the Department of Justice. But as the Secretary of State, the rules don’t apply to him.

“That’s why I think this process is so fundamentally unfair, that you’ve got a couple of allegations by a couple of unnamed public servants being alleged against Dominic Raab, and he’s now lost his job. I think this process stinks.”

In a discussion with Patrick Christys, he continued: “It’s a crying shame that Dominic Raab has resigned because he was a very good minister. He was very competent, because he’s a very bright guy.

“I worked with him when he was chief of staff to David Davis when David Davis was shadow Home Secretary.

“Now, frankly, this process it’s not just a kangaroo court, it’s an insult to kangaroos. And I say that as an Australian but I also say that as someone who has watched this process being played out in the media over the last six months.”

He added: “He’s a very hard worker. He’s a very hard taskmaster, but you want that when you’re the Deputy Prime Minister of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a nuclear power, the sixth largest economy in the world.

“You want your Deputy Prime Minister to be fastidious, you do. So what is the message this now sends to all cabinet ministers in United Kingdom, all future cabinet ministers in the United Kingdom?

“Well, it means don’t be too harsh on a public servant, on a civil servant, because they might leak against you in the media and you might lose your job. This is really bad for democracy in Britain.”