Rishi Sunak still has full confidence in Dominic Raab as the deputy prime minister faces further complaints about his conduct, No 10 said.
Mr Raab faced fresh allegations from a “raft” of senior civil servants across different government departments.
Asked whether the latest allegations would be investigated by a senior lawyer appointed to look at claims made about Mr Raab, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The investigation is ongoing, I don’t intend to provide a running commentary on what is an independent and – rightly – confidential process.”
Downing Street rejected suggestions the investigation could be a whitewash despite Mr Sunak’s ability to reject its findings.
“It’s a long-standing convention that the prime minister of the day is the arbiter of the (ministerial) code and the final decision-maker on these sorts of issues,” the spokesman said.
Senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC was appointed by Rishi Sunak to look into two formal complaints of bullying by the deputy prime minister.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s UK politics blog for 24 November 2022.
Jeremy Hunt urges Britons to slash energy use to stop Putin’s ‘blackmail’
Britain must cut energy usage by 15 per cent to defeat the Russian president, Jeremy Hunt has said.
The UK Chancellor said: “For most people we need you to play your part in reducing our energy dependency on what Putin chooses to do in Ukraine. And that’s why we’ve got this national ambition to reduce energy consumption by 15 per cent.
Mr Hunt said “in the end everyone is going to have to take responsibility for their energy bills” and consider how to cut their consumption.
He urged that it was important to stop the UK being “blackmailed” by Mr Putin.
Dominic Raab faces coordinated bullying complaints from a dozen ex-staffers, report says
Dominic Raab faces bullying complaints from around one dozen more former staffers, according to reports, as an investigation begins into claims the deputy prime minister left government workers afraid to approach him.
Questions have also been raised over Mr Raab’s alleged use of personal email accounts for government business at two different departments including the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which he currently leads, BBC Newsnight reported.
Rishi Sunak has appointed a leading barrister to investigate two formal complaints made last week about Mr Raab’s conduct while running the MoJ and Foreign Office. Mr Raab denies allegations of bullying and Mr Sunak said he supports his deputy.
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ICYMI: Former Tory MP Owen Paterson claims ‘unfair’ lobbying investigation breached his human rights
Former Conservative MP Owen Paterson has claimed that the lobbying investigation that sparked a government scandal ending with his resignation breached his human rights.
The Brexiteer has lodged a formal complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which formally asked the British government to respond to his allegations on Tuesday.
Mr Paterson has complained to the Strasbourg court that his Article 8 rights under the UK Human Rights Act, relating to respecting his private and family life, had been infringed.
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ICYMI: Surge in private gifts to parties gives ‘super-donors’ growing influence on UK politics, report finds
A surge in private donations to political parties has put a small number of super-rich individuals in a position to wield “substantial influence” over the UK’s political process, a new report has warned.
Almost half of political donations in the UK – and 60 per cent in the run-up to the 2019 general election – now come from wealthy individuals, compared to around 40 per cent in the early 2000s, found academics from the University of Warwick’s CAGE Research Centre.
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Raab reportedly facing fresh bullying complaints from ‘raft’ of civil servants
Dominic Raab is facing fresh questions over his conduct as several of his former staff are said to be preparing to file formal bullying complaints against him.
The move is a co-ordinated effort by “a raft of senior civil servants in multiple government departments” to lodge concerns over Mr Raab’s behaviour, including a number of private secretaries, BBC Newsnight reported.
Meanwhile, the programme said it had heard allegations that the Cabinet minister used his personal email account for Government business at two different departments, as recently as last year.
Read the full story by Amy Gibbons here:
Boris Johnson compares Liz Truss’ mini budget to ‘badly played piano sketch’
Former prime minister Boris Johnson compared Liz Truss’s mini-budget to a badly played piano. In his first comments on the mini-budget, Mr Johnson told CNN: “It’s kind of like when I play the piano. The notes individually sound perfectly OK, but they’re not in the right order, or occurring at the right time.”
Mr Johnson also rejected suggestions he could return as prime minister. He said: “I’ve always said for about 20 years that my chances of becoming PM were about as good as my chances of becoming decapitated by a frisbee, or blinded by a champagne cork or locked in a disused fridge.
“I then did become PM so my chances of becoming PM again I think are those impossibilia cubed or squared.”
ICYMI: Minister defends Rishi Sunak’s use of private GP because NHS given ‘a lot of money’
A cabinet minister has defended Rishi Sunak’s use of a private GP promising “on the day” appointments, insisting he has shown his commitment to the NHS by giving it more cash.
It has been revealed as NHS patients wait ever longer to see a GP – with just 41.5 per cent of appointments in September taking place on the same day, official figures show.
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Sunak warned Tories face existential threat over housebuilding failures
Rishi Sunak was warned by a senior Tory that failing to build new homes is an existential threat for the Conservatives after rebels forced him to delay planning reforms.
Former Cabinet minister Simon Clarke said the party’s vote could collapse if the Government does not help people onto the housing ladder with a building spree.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt acknowledged the difficulties faced by people trying to buy their first home and said planning rules often set “local communities against the national need to build more houses”.
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Sunak appoints leading KC to investigate bullying claims against Raab
Commercial and employment law specialist Adam Tolley KC will look into the claims made against Mr Raab after two formal complaints were submitted about his conduct.
Downing Street has indicated Mr Tolley’s remit could extend to other allegations about Mr Raab after a series of claims related to his time as foreign secretary and his first stint in the Ministry of Justice.
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