UK deputy PM quits after bullying investigation
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UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has grudgingly resigned after an independent investigation found he bullied civil servants, though he criticised the findings as “flawed.”
Raab’s announcement came the day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak received the investigation report into eight formal complaints that Raab, who was also justice secretary, had been abusive toward staff members during a previous stint in that office and while serving as Britain’s foreign secretary and Brexit secretary.
Lawyer Adam Tolley, who conducted the inquiry and noted that “bullying” was not a legal term, found Raab “acted in a way which was intimidating,” was “unreasonably and persistently aggressive” and “introduced an unwarranted punitive element” to his leadership style.
“His conduct also involved an abuse or misuse of power in a way that undermines or humiliates,” Tolley wrote in the 48-page report.
Raab, 49, denied claims he belittled and demeaned staff and said he “behaved professionally at all times.”
He remained defiant in resigning, saying he was “duty-bound” after promising to do so if the bullying complaints were substantiated. He said the inquiry made two findings of bullying against him and dismissed the others.
He made it clear in his resignation letter that he did not accept the findings, calling them “flawed” and saying the inquiry “set a dangerous precedent” by “setting the threshold for bullying so low.”
In a letter praising much of the work that Raab had done, Sunak said he accepted the resignation “with great sadness.” He also referred to “shortcomings” in the investigation, which he said had “negatively affected everyone involved.”
Sunak appointed Oliver Dowden, a senior cabinet official, as deputy prime minister, and Alex Chalk as justice secretary. Government websites were quickly updated with the replacements and their photos.
The resignation spared Sunak the difficult task of deciding the fate of his top deputy.
If he had fired Raab, he would have faced more criticism for appointing him in the first place despite reportedly being warned about Raab’s behaviour; if he had kept him in the job, he would have been blasted for failing to follow through on his promise to restore integrity to the Conservative government.
Raab hailed Sunak as a “great prime minister” and pledged support from the backbenches of parliament.
Sunak’s delay in not acting swiftly, as he had promised, gave his political opponents an opportunity to attack him for dithering.
“Even today, it’s Raab who resigned rather than the prime minister who acts,” opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said.
First elected to Parliament in 2010, Raab unsuccessfully sought to become Conservative Party leader in 2019 before throwing his support behind Boris Johnson. Appointed deputy prime minister under Johnson, he briefly took charge of the government when Johnson was hospitalised with COVID-19 in April 2020.
Raab said in his letter that he had “not intentionally belittled anyone” and was “genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt.”
He noted the inquiry concluded he had not “sworn or shouted at anyone, let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimidated anyone.”
AP
