Dominic Raab resigns – latest: Ex-deputy PM attacks ‘activist’ civil servants after bullying report

Raab accuses ‘small minority of very activist civil servants’ of blocking proposed reforms

Keir Starmer says Dominic Raab’s resignation shows Rishi Sunak's ‘continual weakness’

Dominic Raab has accused “activist” and “passive aggressive” civil servants of trying to block reforms like Brexit in a new interview.

Mr Raab resigned from cabinet this morning after a report upheld two claims of bullying against him and found he was “unreasonably and persistently aggressive” in a meeting while foreign secretary.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Raab charged a small group of “very activist” senior civil servants with pushing back against proposed government reforms because they don’t support them.

The former deputy PM complained that the report into his conduct did not make clear that no complaints lodged by junior officials were upheld.

He told the BBC that two instances where he was found at fault came from a “handful of very senior officials”.

Mr Raab said there was risk that a “very small minority of very activist civil servants” not in favour of the reforms were “effectively trying to block government”.

“That’s not on. That’s not democratic,” he added.

Mr Raab’s departure sparked a mini-reshuffle, with Alex Chalk, a former junior minister for the Ministry of Defence, replacing him as justice secretary, and Oliver Dowden as deputy prime minister.

Key Points

• Meet Sunak’s new deputy PM: Comprehensive kid known as ‘Olive’ who was compared to Tony Blair’s attack dog Alastair Campbell
• Raab attacks ‘activist’ and ‘passive aggressive' civil servants in new interview
• Report finds Raab ‘intimidated’ and ‘humiliated’ civil servants
• Dominic Raab replaced as justice secretary by Alex Chalk
• Dominic Raab hits out at ‘Kafkaesque’ bullying probe
• Sunak joins Raab in condemning bullying probe
• Deputy PM resigns over bullying report

[22 April 2023 02:00 · Emily Atkinson]

Kim Sengupta: I witnessed the Afghan evacuation scandal – Raab should have been sacked there and then

Junior staff with no experience of Afghanistan were left to make life-or-death decisions, writes World Affairs Editor Kim Sengupta.

[22 April 2023 03:00 · Emily Atkinson]

No 10 rejects union call for wider inquiry into ministerial bullying

Downing Street has rejected calls for a wider inquiry into ministerial bullying but indicated that lessons could be learned about the handling of complaints.

FDA general secretary Dave Penman had warned that misconduct by senior members of Government is more widespread than Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to admit as he called for a wider probe into ministerial behaviour.

Mr Penman, who made the call following Mr Raab’s resignation, complained of the “inadequacy of a process that relies solely on the Prime Minister of the day to enforce standards”.

[22 April 2023 04:00 · Emily Atkinson]

Dominic Raab ‘called me a ‘silly b****’, lawyer who took government to court over Brexit claims

The lawyer who took the government to court over Brexit claims embattled Dominic Raab once called her a “silly b****”.

The deputy prime minister and justice secretary, whose fate hangs in the balance pending the outcome of a report into bullying allegations against him, saw Gina Miller as “lesser than himself,” she has claimed.

Ms Miller, who challenged the government’s Brexit plans in the Supreme Court, alleges Mr Raab abused her while the pair shared a lift after appearing on the BBC’s Today show in 2016 to talk about the case.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has more:

[22 April 2023 05:00 · Emily Atkinson]

John Rentoul: Dominic Raab’s resignation gets Rishi Sunak off the hook

It was a marginal decision on the facts, and the prime minister erred on the side of public opinion in requiring Dominic Raab’s resignation, writes John Rentoul. Public opinion will not be completely satisfied, because Raab was allowed to resign rather than being sacked, but that is a detail.

[22 April 2023 06:00 · Emily Atkinson]

Raab conduct ‘would have brought disciplinary action in private sector’

Dominic Raab would have likely faced disciplinary action if he was working for a private company, an employment lawyer has said.

Caroline Baker, a solicitor at law firm GQ Littler, said the findings that Mr Raab “intimidated” and “humiliated” civil servants would have seen the former deputy prime minister facing at least a final written warning if he had been a regular employee rather than a minister.

She said: “I think he would certainly be subject to disciplinary action for this.

“Whether he was terminated or given a final written warning would depend on the employer, but let’s say it’s your CEO and they are humiliating your employees, I think they would be gone, so I think it’s untenable.”

[22 April 2023 07:00 · Emily Atkinson]

Watch: Timeline of Dominic Raab's career as he resigns from Cabinet over bullying claims

[22 April 2023 07:22 · Matt Mathers]

How the papers reacted to Raab’s resignation

The resignation of deputy prime minister Dominic Raab dominated the front pages across British newspapers on Saturday.

The Independent reports on the sacking of Mr Raab who “rages” against the bullying report that forced him to resign and blamed the media.

See how the rest of the papers covered Mr Raab’s departure below:

[22 April 2023 07:54 · Matt Mathers]

Raab’s ‘activist’ civil servant comments ‘dangerous’ - union

The general secretary of a union representing civil servants has said Dominic Raab is setting a "dangerous" precedent by accusing officials involved in his bullying investigation of acting on political grounds, and called on prime minister Rishi Sunak to "intervene".

Speaking about the former deputy prime minister, Dave Penman told Times Radio: "Though he was happy for a KC - who was Adam Tolley - to investigate, he just doesn’t like the result, and now he’s desperately trying to rescue his reputation, including (through) his spurious allegations about civil servants.

"This is where we start to get into quite dangerous territory and really the prime minister should be starting to intervene, because what Raab’s now doing is he’s saying: ‘this wasn’t just about me, this was a politically motivated group of civil servants trying to block government policy’.

"Of course he provides no evidence to support that whatsoever in his desperate attempt to defend himself."

Mr Penman accused ministers more generally of trying to "create a culture war of a ‘woke left civil service’ without any evidence", describing the service as having "both hands tied behind its back unable to defend itself" due to impartiality rules.

He added that Mr Sunak should "conduct a review of the entire process" of civil servants reporting their concerns about ministers.

Dave Penman insists ministers need to devise a clearer plan for policies (BBC)

[22 April 2023 08:30 · Matt Mathers]

Reaction to Raab bullying probe ‘will discourage future complaints’

Rishi Sunak and Dominic Raab’s response to the report into bullying accusations against the former deputy prime minister has made future civil service complaints more difficult, according to a think tank chief.

Hannah White, director of the Institute for Government (IfG), said "no civil servant would feel encouraged to speak out in future" and called the episode a missed opportunity for the prime minister to reinforce standards.

It comes after Adam Tolley KC’s investigation into allegations of bullying concluded Mr Raab engaged in an "abuse or misuse of power" that "undermines or humiliates" while he was foreign secretary.

[22 April 2023 09:00 · Matt Mathers]

Comment: Raab quits – but his petulance and anger say it all

In the end, Raab took the slightly more dignified route of quitting rather than being publicly fired, as he once promised he would, but that’s about all he can say about this miserable denouement, writes Sean O’Grady.

Read Sean’s full piece here: