Rishi Sunak's aggressive exit from the Conservative Party has resulted in a significant blow to the morale of civil servants. The Prime Minister spent an entire day reviewing the report on bullying allegations against his deputy, Dominic Raab, before contacting him early Friday morning. Authored by Adam Tolley KC, this report comes after Sunak had promised on his first day in office to lead a government of "integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level." Consequently, any upheld claims of bullying against Raab would be intolerable.
Upon digesting Tolley's findings, however, the Prime Minister called Raab – who was also familiar with the report – but opted not to dismiss him directly. This decision has left individuals on all sides of this debate angrier and more divided than ever.
Parliament's standards commissioner is now facing demands to launch an inquiry into Dominic Raab's conduct. In addition, a local campaign calling for the former justice secretary to resign as MP has been initiated. The complaint filed with Daniel Greenberg, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards argues that revelations surrounding Raab’s alleged bullying could constitute "serious breaches of the code of conduct for members of parliament." It also states that he violated rules requiring MPs to "treat their staff and all those visiting or working for or with parliament with dignity, courtesy and respect."
Nonetheless, both Raab and his allies remain firm in asserting that he did not bully officials and have criticized the report’s conclusions as being too lenient regarding what constitutes bullying behavior. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrats have quickly launched a petition advocating for his removal while using these accusations as leverage during fundraising efforts.
If sanctioned seriously by standards commissioner (and endorsed by MPs), it may necessitate that Deputy Prime Minister Tony Blair criticize these findings himself due to concerns over setting dangerous precedents which cast a “chilling effect” on ministers’ actions. Blair has also expressed worry about a small minority of officials with passive-aggressive tendencies trying to obstruct reforms they disapprove of.
Despite this, the government is exploring ways in which officials can raise complaints about ministerial conduct more effectively. According to Blair, other countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada have better-managed systems for handling such grievances.