Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email<\/p>\n
Rishi Sunak was accused of “dithering” as he failed to publicly back or sack his deputy despite receiving a long awaited report into his alleged bullying.<\/p>\n
The prime minister risked the fury of Tory MPs over the fate of Dominic Raab. One minister described the lack of a decision, hours after the results of an independent investigation were handed to No 10, as \u201cmad\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy prolong the agony?\u201d they said. <\/p>\n
Another former minister said Mr Sunak should have decided whether to keep or remove Mr Raab swiftly, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s a mess\u201d. <\/p>\n
Sir Alistair Graham, a former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, told The Independent the delay was \u201cpuzzling\u201d and looks like \u201csloppy government\u201d.<\/p>\n
He previously said the allegations should be investigated, with possible sanctions attached if they were found to be true.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cNormally you can read these things quite quickly and come to a conclusion, so it is puzzling and seems to suggest he is desperately trying to find a way not to get rid of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like sloppy government. You have the report and people, especially the people who made the allegations, want to know if their view has been sustained. They are being shortchanged.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows a lack of sensitivity toward a group of important people who have made serious allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior officials in Mr Raab\u2019s department have threatened to quit if Mr Sunak keeps his deputy in post but government sources said Mr Sunak was taking time to \u201cgo through the report thoroughly and consider\u201d. <\/p>\n
Labour\u2019s deputy leader Angela Rayner accused Mr Sunak of dithering and \u201ctrying to summon up the guts to sack his own deputy\u201d. <\/p>\n
Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: \u201cPeople will be fed up with this dither and delay\u201d, adding: \u201cIt feels like almost every week there is an issue with sleaze and scandal where Sunak is either implicated in himself or too weak to get to grips with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Raab has denied allegations of bullying \u2013 insisting that he believes \u201cheart and soul\u201d that he is not a bully. He has also pledged that he would resign if a bullying claim is upheld.<\/p>\n
The deputy PM has been under investigation since November over eight formal complaints about his behaviour as foreign secretary,\u00a0Brexit secretary and his first stint as justice secretary.<\/p>\n
Senior civil servants have prepared briefing packs for new ministers, if Mr Raab was to be sacked and a mini-reshuffle becomes necessary, The Independent understands. But the move is standard precaution, rather than an expectation that the justice secretary would be sacked.<\/p>\n
One person involved in the process described the report by Adam Tolley KC as \u201cdevastating\u201d while a senior government official said Mr\u00a0Raab\u00a0was \u201ctoast\u201d, according to the\u00a0Financial Times.<\/p>\n
Mr Raab was accused of causing staff to break down in tears or throw up before meetings. The minister was also accused of chucking Pret-A-Manger tomatoes across a room in a \u201cfit of rage\u201d \u2013 a claim he denied.<\/p>\n
The leader of the FDA civil service Dave Penman said some staff who worked with the senior Tory minister had suffered \u201cmental health crises\u201d and had been forced to quit and downgrade jobs because working with him too difficult.<\/p>\n
Rishi Sunak still mulling decision whether to sack Dominic Raab <\/p>\n
(PA Wire)<\/p>\n
Mr Tolley is said to have been \u201cthorough\u201d in his handling of the investigation, having interviewed Mr\u00a0Raab\u00a0multiple times and spoken to or taken written evidence from a number of other senior figures.<\/p>\n
As the ultimate arbiter it is up to Mr Sunak to decide if Mr Raab has broken the ministerial code.<\/p>\n
Senior officials at the Ministry of Justice are preparing to quit if the PM chooses to keep Mr Raab in government because it would be \u201cdemoralising\u201d for staff. \u201cIf he stays in the department, senior people will want to walk,\u201d one official told The Guardian. Another said some would get ready to \u201cleave in the near future\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Sunak said in November that he \u201cwas not and am not aware of any formal complaints about Dominic\u2019s behaviour\u201d \u2013 but refused to say whether he knew of informal warnings about Mr Raab before appointing him.<\/p>\n
It emerged in the heavily-delayed register of ministerial interests this week that Mr Raab had forked out for his own legal team to defend himself against the allegations.<\/p>\n
The decision to pay for his lawyers came despite the taxpayer footing an estimated \u00a3222,000 bill for\u00a0Boris Johnson\u2019s legal fees in the Partygate inquiry into whether he lied to MPs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Rishi Sunak was accused of “dithering” as he failed to publicly back or sack his deputy despite receiving a long awaited report into his alleged bullying. The prime minister risked the fury of Tory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n