Dominic Raab Criticised Over 'Tone Deaf' Paul O'Grady Tribute

British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab was criticised as 'tone deaf' after paying tribute to LGBTQ+ icon Paul O'Grady in the House of Commons yesterday, following the star's death.

Mr Raab, the Secretary of State for Justice, told the House that Paul O'Grady - who the MP misnamed 'Paul Grayson' - broke ceilings and boundaries, before going on to say “I also think it shows how we need greater, more rambunctious free speech and we need to avoid the wokery and the limitations on comedy, which, I’m afraid, both of them [O’Grady, and his drag act, Lily Savage] would have had no time for.”

The comments were made during Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), where Mr Raab was standing in for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant had asked Mr Raab whether it was time that the UK celebrated " our naughty, hilarious drag queens and comics of every kind who inspire us to be a better and more generous nation".

Condemnation came from within Parliament - with MPs rushing the Deputy Prime Minister to correct Paul O'Grady's name, to begin with - as well as online, as commentators felt it was inappropriate to use the star's death as a chance to make a political point about "wokery".

Media personality Amanda Holden caught similar flack after describing how O'Grady, who performed as drag act Lily Savage for years, "didn't have a woke bone in his body."

Tributes have continued to pour in from all corners of the country, including from the Queen, to the late entertainment star who passed away "unexpectedly but peacefully" on Tuesday night.

Read related myGwork articles here:

Comedian Paul O'Grady Dies, Aged 67

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