Dominic Raab attacks “civil servants activists” after his resignation

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By Becky Morton and Chris Mason BBC Politics Apr 21, 2023

Updated 39 minutes ago

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“Are you a nightmare to work?” asked Raab by the BBC

Former Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has accused “civil servant activists” of trying to obstruct the work of government, following his sensational resignation over allegations of bullying.

An investigation concluded that he was “intimidating” and “aggressive” towards officials.

Raab told the BBC he was sorry if he offended anyone but “this is not bullying”.

He said there was a risk that a “very small minority” of officials with a “passive aggressive culture” would try to block reforms they did not like.

In his first interview since stepping down, Raab told the BBC that the only complaints against him upheld were by “a handful of high-ranking officials”, among the hundreds of civil servants he had dealt with.

Asked if the plain truth was that he was a nightmare to work with, the former justice minister said: “Well, in fact, almost all complaints against me have been dismissed.”

He said that “a very small minority of very activist civil servants” were actively trying to block reforms they did not like, on areas including Brexit, parole for prisoners and human rights.

The Esher-Walton MP added, “This is not available. This is not Democratic.”

“If you have civil servants who are particularly active, either because they are excessively unionized or they don’t agree with what we’re trying to pursue… We can’t make that happen for the British people.”

Asked if there were people standing in the way of an elected government, Mr Raab said: “I was told that by a Cabinet Secretary and Director of Decency and Ethics in the Cabinet Office.”

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Watch Rap’s first interview since quitting bullying

However, the FDA union, which represents civil servants, accused Mr Raab of promoting “dangerous conspiracy theories that undermine the impartiality and integrity of the civil service” in order to “shift away from criticism of an independent investigation of his behaviour”.

The union’s president, Dave Penman, said the prime minister had a duty to defend the neutrality of the civil service and “stop releasing his former ally”.

A former senior civil servant who worked closely with Mr Raab told BBC Newsnight that he had “often publicly praised the work of his staff” and his recent comments seemed to “contradict” this.

Another said: “In my experience, most civil servants do their jobs because they want to provide service to the public.

“They do this through a long-standing and usually very effective relationship with democratically elected ministers.

“I think you would struggle to find a similar example of the glitch we heard about in the Tolley Report, so perhaps it’s fair to draw the conclusion that there is one common thread to this unique situation and that is rap.”

The investigation, conducted by senior attorney Adam Toolley K. The BBC has filed eight formal complaints about Raab’s conduct during his previous stints as justice secretary, foreign secretary and Brexit secretary.

His report concluded that Mr. Raab’s conduct involved an “abuse or misuse of authority”, and that he “acted in an intimidating manner” and was “consistently aggressive” towards officials.

Raab, a close ally of the prime minister, has vowed to resign if the investigation reaches any conclusion of bullying against him.

In his resignation letter, he said he accepted the findings of the investigation but called them “flawed”.

Asked in his interview with the BBC if he wanted to apologise, Mr Raab said: “If someone has hurt their feelings, because of something I did, then of course I want a team with power.

“The vast majority of civil servants who have worked with me have been brilliant and brilliant and really enjoyed the energy, the challenge, the drive I think I brought.

“But of course, I don’t want to upset anyone and I’ve made it clear I’m sorry for that. But this isn’t bullying, and we can’t help the British people if the bar is that low.”

He added, “If it’s not intentional, if it’s not personal, if it’s actually true, but there are some self-inflicted hurt feelings in some, I’m afraid that makes it very difficult to communicate.”

Raab said the investigation’s findings set a “very dangerous precedent”.

“If the threshold for bullying is reduced to this low, it is almost impossible for ministers to meet it for the British people and I think it would have a chilling effect on effective government, and the British people would pay the price.” He said.

He added that many ministers were now “very afraid that a direct challenge which they justly bring, directly into the government, might put them in danger of the same treatment I have had”.

Asked if he would stand in the next general election as the Conservative candidate in Esher Walton, where he has a slim majority of just under 3,000 votes, Raab said he wanted to “let the dust settle” but in the end it was a decision on his part. Circle Association.

Conservative Party peer Lord Marland said Mr Raab’s resignation was “almost a plot by the civil service”.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsnight programme, he said it was “a very dark day for all employers” because “a dangerous precedent was set”. [on the issue of workplace bullying] This would “send chills down all employers in the country”.

However, Lord Vaisey told the same program: “I don’t think for one minute… that any civil servant would actively seek to undermine what you do.”

He said there was a “clash of cultures” between the often impatient ministers and the civil service doing things “right” which leads to “tension”.

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