LONDON — U.Okay. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab resigned Friday after an unbiased investigation discovered he bullied civil servants, although he criticized the file as “flawed.”
Raab’s announcement got here the day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak won findings into 8 formal court cases that Raab, who could also be justice secretary, were abusive towards group of workers contributors right through a prior stint in that administrative center and whilst serving as Britain’s overseas secretary and Brexit secretary.
Raab, 49, denied claims he belittled and demeaned his group of workers and mentioned he “behaved professionally at all times,” however mentioned he used to be resigning as a result of he had promised to take action if the bullying court cases had been upheld.
The investigation made two findings of bullying in opposition to him and disregarded the others, Raab mentioned in his resignation letter. He referred to as the findings “flawed” and mentioned the inquiry “set a dangerous precedent” by way of “setting the threshold for bullying so low.”
Raab said he quit because he was “duty bound” to surrender since he had promised to.
The resignation spares Sunak the difficult task of deciding the fate of his top deputy.
If he fired Raab, he would open himself to criticism for hiring him in the first place; if he kept him in the job, he would be criticized for failing to follow through on his promise to restore integrity to the Conservative government.
Sunak received the investigation report Thursday morning and didn’t immediately make a decision. Spokesperson Max Blain, speaking before Raab’s resignation, said Sunak still had “full confidence” in Raab while he reviewed the report.
The ministerial code of conduct requires ministers to treat people with respect and have proper and appropriate relationships with colleagues, civil servants and staff. It says harassment, discrimination and bullying will not be tolerated.
Raab was elected to Parliament in 2010 and 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 hospitalized with COVID-19 in April 2020.
Raab said in his letter that he had “not intentionally belittled anyone” and “genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offense 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.”
The bullying inquiry is the latest ethics headache for Sunak, who vowed to restore order and integrity to government after three years of instability under predecessors Johnson and Liz Truss. Multiple scandals brought Johnson down in summer 2022, and Truss quit in October after six weeks in office when her tax-cutting economic plans sparked mayhem on the financial markets.
But Sunak has struggled to shake off opposition allegations that the Conservative government remains mired in scandal and sleaze.
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