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Rishi Sunak has urged officials and aides who may have concerns about Dominic Raab’s behaviour to “come forward” and make a complaint after a top civil servant said Raab was so “demeaning and abrasive” to junior colleagues that many were “scared” to enter his office.
The British prime minister, speaking to broadcasters at the G20 summit in Bali, continued to stand by his deputy, saying he “did not recognise” the characterisation of Mr Raab as a bully but said civil servants should “avail themselves” of the formal complaints process if necessary.
He told the BBC: “I was not and I’m not aware of any formal complaints about Dominic’s behaviour. But I would say if people do have concerns, whether it’s about any individual, that they should come forward and talk to people about those.”
However, Mr Sunak refused to answer questions over whether he had been informed of any informal complaints about the justice secretary’s alleged bullying across three government departments before he reappointed him to the Ministry of Justice.
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In a separate interview with ITV News, he was asked whether there should be an investigation into Mr Raab’s behaviour given the number of allegations reported – and indicated this could not happen unless witnesses came forward.
“There are established processes in place for people to raise concerns. In all workplaces – private, public – if people have concerns they should raise them because unless people raise them it’s hard for people to actually then look into them and make any changes that are necessary so I would urge people to do that. Those processes are confidential and it’s right that they are used.”
The Guardian has reported that the former permanent secretary of the foreign office, Simon McDonald, warned Mr Raab about the way he treated officials in his private office and then reported his concerns to the propriety and ethics team at the cabinet office.
Mr McDonald, now a cross-bench peer, has confirmed the report, telling Times Radio: “It was language, it was tone, he would be very curt with people. He did this in front of a lot of other people. I think people felt demeaned. I tried to have that conversation with him.” He also confirmed he had spoken informally to the cabinet office.
The former foreign office chief said that Mr Raab, who has denied the allegations, was not aware of the impact his behaviour was having on people. “When I worked for him, Dominic Raab was not aware of the impact of his behaviour on the people working for him, and couldn’t be made to see that impact. Colleagues did not complain to me formally. It was kind of their professional pride to cope,” he said.
“But many were scared to go into his office. His sort of defence was that he treated everyone in the building in the same way. He was as abrasive and controlling with junior ministers and senior officials, as he was with his private secretaries.”
Mr McDonald said he hoped Mr Sunak would reform the system for dealing with allegations of bullying.
He said: “What we have at the moment is not fit for purpose. Action is only taken if there is a formal complaint and there is a feeling in the system that the system is stacked in favour of the minister or senior official. So people hesitate to make a formal complaint because of the effect on themselves.”
Dave Penman, the head of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, called on Mr Sunak to reform the complaints system to help address a “toxic work culture” in Whitehall. In a letter, Mr Penman urged the prime minister to appoint a new independent ethics adviser.
The post has been vacant for five months since Lord Geidt quit in June amid concern over Boris Johnson’s role in the Partygate scandal. Downing Street said the recruitment process was ongoing “at pace”.
The Guardian has also reported that a senior official at the Department for Exiting the European Union handed a document on alleged bullying of staff by Mr Raab when he was Brexit secretary to the Cabinet Office. Other reports suggest that the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, was aware of Mr Raab’s alleged behaviour at the MoJ.
A spokesperson for Mr Raab said: “The deputy prime minister has worked in government for over seven years as a minister or secretary of state across four departments and enjoyed strong working relationships with officials across Whitehall. He consistently holds himself to the highest standards of professionalism and has never received nor been made aware of any formal complaint against him.” – Guardian