Dominic Raab’s staff were ‘scared to go into his office’, ex-Foreign Office chief reveals

‘I think people felt demeaned. And I tried to have that conversation with him’

Staff working for Dominic Raab were “scared to go into his office” because of his “controlling” behaviour, a former head of the diplomatic service has revealed.

Simon McDonald has heaped further pressure on the deputy prime minister over his alleged bullying of his officials – saying he warned Mr Raab to change his approach.

“It was language, it was tone, he would be very curt with people. And he did this in front of a lot of other people,” said the former top civil servant, of their time together at the Foreign Office.

“I think people felt demeaned. And I tried to have that conversation with him,” Lord McDonald told Times Radio.

“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.”

The criticism comes after Rishi Sunak stood by his deputy, who must face MPs when he stands in at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday for his absent leader.

One minister has already been forced out of Mr Sunak’s cabinet because of bullying allegations, with last week’s resignation of Gavin Williamson amid multiple investigations.

Lord McDonald’s comments comes after his intervention played a key part in Boris Johnson’s downfall, when he revealed the then-prime minister was warned about Chris Pincher’s “predatory behaviour”.

Mr Raab’s behaviour has been in the spotlight since it was revealed staff at the Ministry of Justice were offered a “route out” of the department when he was reinstated as justice secretary in October.

It is also alleged that the Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, was told by senior officials of concerns about “abrasive” treatment of junior staff, and privately took steps to try to improve Mr Raab’s behaviour,

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, as demanded an independent investigation, alleging: “Rishi Sunak clearly knew about Dominic Raab’s reputation when he reappointed him to his cabinet.”

Responding to Lord McDonald’s interview, a spokesperson for 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.”

At the G20 summit in Bali, Mr Sunak said, of the bullying allegations: “I don’t recognise that characterisation of Dominic and I’m not aware of any formal complaints about him.

“Of course there are established procedures for civil servants if they want to bring to light any issues.”

Downing Street did not rule out that Mr Sunak had been told of informal complaints about Mr Raab, saying only that the prime minister "was not aware of any formal complaints being raised".

No 10 also said that Mr Sunak wanted to appoint a new ethics adviser “as quickly as possible”.

Dave Penman, 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.