Cut Dominic Raab some slack, ministers make huge personal sacrifices for the public

Yes we need politicians to be present, but they get no after-work pilates classes or weekends, writes Salma Shah

‘With hindsight, of course, I would have wanted to be back earlier’: Raab was on holiday as chaos unfolded in Afghanistan (Getty)

Rest is a weapon, according to the amnesia-prone Jason Bourne, the fictional CIA assassin gone AWOL. Unless, of course, you’re a British cabinet minister – in this case, the opposite is in fact true. Rest can be fatal to your career.

Take the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab. He toured the TV studios this morning providing updates on the desperate situation in Afghanistan and clarity on exactly which excursions and activities he enjoyed whilst on his “luxury” holiday in Crete. He was most definitely not paddleboarding or “lounging” on a beach and I for one cannot see paddleboards as his vibe, adding plausibility to this denial.

Critically, he acknowledged that with the benefit of hindsight he wouldn’t have gone on holiday at all given the circumstances and the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan. To some people this seems excessive; surely everyone deserves a holiday? He was, like the rest of the world, caught off guard, so we should give him some leeway, but he’s right. Ministers are in no position to be having any kind of break or being seen to be doing anything other than work, especially in an emergency. In the public view, they must keep their noses to the grindstone.