What are the bullying allegations against Dominic Raab?

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The Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister has been accused of humiliating staff and presiding over a toxic culture

The Prime Minister voiced his support for his deputy after a series of allegations of bullying and claims that his ministry staff were afraid to enter his office.

Dominic Raab, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, has been accused of being abrasive and demeaning to staff during his time at the Foreign Office, while reports have emerged in recent days that staff is seen being offered a route out of his department when he was reinstated as justice secretary in October

The former foreign secretary was also accused of throwing tomatoes from a salad across a room in a fit of anger, while a leaked survey of staff in his private office in 2019 showed several claimed to have been bullied or harassed at work.

In PMQs today (November 16), Raab told MPs he was confident that [he] behaved in a professional manner throughout his time as Minister and first heard of the official complaint against him this morning. He added that he had asked the Prime Minister to set up an independent investigation.

After Labors shadow chancellor Angela Rayner called the deputy prime minister’s behavior unacceptable and asked him what he was still doing here, Raab replied: I will refute and refute all claims. He also argued that Rayner did not put a specific point to [him]adding that if she wishes, I will be very happy to respond.

Staff felt belittled by Raab

Raab was so demeaning and abrasive to his junior colleagues that many were afraid to enter his office, the then-foreign secretary’s top official alleged in the latest accusation against the embattled minister.

Lord McDonald said he raised his concerns with Cabinet Office investigators at the time and urged Rishi Sunak to review bullying complaint procedures.

Despite warnings, the prime minister said today (15 November) he will stand by his deputy and justice secretary. Sunak continued to insist he was not aware of any official complaints about Raab’s behavior and urged anyone with concerns to come forward.

Lord McDonald, an unattached peer who was permanent secretary for foreign affairs when Raab headed the department, said the minister could not be made to see the impact he was having on staff.

Colleagues didn’t complain to me formally, it was a bit of their professional pride to deal with, but many were afraid to walk into his office, he told Times Radio.

His kind of defense was that he treated everyone in the building the same. He was as abrasive and controlling with junior ministers and senior officials as he was with his private secretaries.

Sunak insisted he was not aware of any official complaints about Raab as he dismissed his deputy’s characterization which emerged in a series of reports.

Lord McDonald confirmed he raised the behavior of ministers with the Cabinet Offices ownership and ethics team at the time, with Raab serving as Foreign Secretary from 2019 to 2021.

It was the language, it was the tone, he could be very dry with people and he did it in front of a lot of other people. I think people felt belittled, the former manager said.

And I tried to have this conversation with him, I had several conversations with him. But it wouldn’t surprise me today if he said that I don’t recognize that, because I felt at the time that my message wasn’t landing.

Sunak, speaking to ITV in Bali, where he is attending the G20 summit, continued to support Raab.

I am not and have not been aware of any official complaints about Dominics’ behavior, the Prime Minister said.

Of course, there are established processes in place for people to raise concerns in all workplaces. If people have concerns, they should report them, because unless people raise them, it’s hard for people to review them and make the necessary changes.

So I invite people to do so. These processes are confidential and it is his right that they be used.

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What are the other allegations against Raab?

Among the allegations Raab is facing is that staff were offered a route out of their department when they were reinstated as Justice Secretary in October, according to the Guardian.

The newspaper reported that the Cabinet Minister had created a culture of fear at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) during his previous stint there, acting in a demeaning, rude and aggressive manner, and that his behavior went beyond of the non-professional, with a source calling him a bully.

The Guardian reported that around 15 staff from the justice secretary’s private office were taken to a room on his return to duty, where it was acknowledged they might be concerned about his conduct. They were reportedly given the option to switch roles, with some visibly emotional.

Other accounts emerged later, with the Mirror reporting that the Justice Secretary acquired the nickname Incinerator because he burns staff. Additionally, The Sun suggested that Raab once threw tomatoes from a lettuce across a room in a fit of anger, an allegation described as rotten by shadow minister David Lammy.

A Raab spokesperson said the salad allegation was nonsense.

ITV News has published a leaked poll of staff in Raab’s private office from 2019, during his tenure as foreign secretary, which showed eight people said they had been bullied or harassed at work.

The survey also showed that 15 staff members said they had witnessed another person being bullied or treated unfairly, although the results were anonymous, meaning it is not possible to determine the object of complaints.

ITV News said 40% of those polled in Raab’s private office reported personal experience of bullying or harassment. But the broadcaster pointed out that only 20 people responded to the question due to the small size of the team, and seven did not respond.

A source claimed the Cabinet Office had been made aware of concerns over Raab’s behavior when he was Brexit secretary, according to ITV News.

The Observer reported that the correspondence took the form of a document alleging unprofessional, even intimidating, conduct by the minister towards his private office.

The official expression of concern is said to have been sent by a senior official in the Brexit department.

What did Raab say?

A number of Tory colleagues have come to Raab’s defence, with MP Helen Grant saying she witnessed a very decent minister with high professional standards when the pair came into contact during Raab’s time in as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Eddie Hughes said he had never seen Raab being rude to anyone when he worked in the housing and Brexit departments.

Raabs’ spokesperson said: Dominic acted with professionalism and integrity in all of his government roles. He has an excellent track record of driving positive change across multiple departments by working well with public servants. He holds everyone, and especially himself, to the high standards that the British people would expect of his government.

Dave Penman, head of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, called on Sunak to reform the complaints system to help tackle a toxic work culture in Whitehall. In a letter, Penman urged the prime minister to appoint a new independent adviser on ministers’ interests. The post has been vacant since Lord Geidt’s departure in June.

As we have seen in recent weeks, the conduct of ministers has come under increasing scrutiny and, in particular, accusations of intimidation, behavior that has no place in a modern workplace, has he declared.

Deputy Labor leader Angela Rayner has demanded an independent inquiry into the Deputy Prime Minister – something Raab said today (November 16) he demanded while being questioned in PMQs.

Rishi Sunak was clearly aware of Dominic Raab’s reputation when he reappointed him to his firm, she said.

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