After five months of investigation, the report into bullying allegations against Dominic Raab has been published.
Earlier, Mr Raab resigned as justice secretary and deputy prime minister – and published a damning 1,100-word essay in the Telegraph.
In his resignation letter to Rishi Sunak, the former deputy PM claimed the investigation had been “flawed” and said the conclusions “set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government”.
The 47-page report compiled by independent investigator Adam Tolley examines the former deputy prime minister’s behaviour in government, detailing eight accusations of bullying.
An independent probe by Adam Tolley KC upheld two of eight complaints against him after finding he engaged in an ‘abuse or misuse of power’ that ‘undermines or humiliates’ while foreign secretary from 2020 to 2021.
Mr Raab’s conduct in the department had a ‘significant adverse effect’ on one colleague and he was also found to have been ‘intimidating’ to staff by criticising ‘utterly useless’ work while justice secretary.
But it cleared him of shouting or swearing at staff, or raising his arms in a threatening manner – some of the complaints made about him. It also revealed some of the complainants had never even met him, but were supporting colleagues.
The report suggested staff had been upset by Mr Raab’s ‘inquisitorial, direct, impatient and fastidious’ style, which included criticising their work to their face and interrupting them in meetings.
He resigned having previously committed to doing so if the report found against him. But he fired a furious public broadside at mandarins who could not handle ‘the pace, standards and challenge that I brought’.
After reading Mr Tolley’s report, a Tory former Cabinet minister described it to MailOnline as ‘snowflake central’.
A second, Sir Robert Goodwill, said it would be difficult to be ‘robust’ with under-performing staff in light of the case against the former deputy prime minister.
And serving government whip Joy Morrissey tweeted: ‘Sadly, we now live in a country where the definition of bullying includes telling someone to do their job, where the slightest upset or annoyance is indulged with endless reports and inquiries.’
Alex Chalk, the former prisons minister, was this afternoon named the new Justice Secretary, while Oliver Dowden, a long-term Sunak ally, is the new Deputy PM.
