Prime minister Rishi Sunak has come to the defence of his deputy Dominic Raab, insisting that he does not recognise depictions of him as a bully.
Mr Sunak was speaking after reports that staff at the Ministry of Justice were offered “a route out” after they learnt of Mr Raab’s return to the department, amid claims he had created a climate of fear during his time there in Boris Johnson’s administration.
Meanwhile, leaked documents obtained by ITV suggested that eight people who worked in Mr Raab’s office when he was foreign secretary reported experiencing bullying by someone and 15 said they were aware of it.
Although the figures for 2019 do not necessarily relate to Mr Raab personally, they are reported to be considerably higher than the equivalent statistics for the department as a whole.
Mr Raab is alleged to have behaved in a “demeaning” and “aggressive” manner during his first stint as justice secretary from 2021-22, on one occasion reportedly throwing tomato slices from a sandwich at an official. He was allegedly nicknamed “The Incinerator” because of the speed at which he burnt through staff.
But Mr Sunak told reporters travelling with him to the G20 summit in Indonesia that the description did not tally with his own experience of working with the deputy prime minister.
“I don’t recognise that characterisation of Dominic and I’m not aware of any formal complaints about him,” said the PM.
“Of course, there are established procedures for civil servants if they want to bring to light any issues. I’m not aware of any formal complaint about Dominic.”
ITV said that the eight people reporting being bullied or harassed in an annual survey of staff amounted to 40 per cent of the 20 workers in Mr Raab’s office at the FCO, while 75 per cent said they had witnessed bullying.
One source told the TV channel that there were personnel changes after the survey results came back – and that there were no complaints about Mr Raab himself.
Asked about the report, Mr Sunak said: “My understanding is that these surveys are annual and relate to the overall work environment, not to individuals.”
