Rishi Sunak is expected to weigh in on whether to fire British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab over bullying allegations, with an official report into the allegations expected to be released as early as Thursday.
Downing Street insiders said they expected the report from Adam Tolley KC, a prominent labor lawyer, to arrive before the end of the week. The prime minister will read the report before deciding whether the behavior of Raab, who is also justice secretary, breached the cabinet code.
A person involved in the process said the review of Raab’s behavior was “devastating”, while a senior government official said the justice secretary was “fried”.
However, other conservatives close to Sunak said they expected the report to be less clear. “If it was simple, Tolley would have posted this a few weeks ago,” one said.
Raab’s aides declined to comment on Wednesday night other than repeating their earlier lines that the minister had “behaved professionally at all times” during his time working in government.
Sunak tasked Tolley with investigating Raab’s behavior after following reports in November that the Deputy Prime Minister was facing multiple new complaints of bullying behavior across multiple departments as Justice Secretary and previously Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Tolley reportedly reviewed eight formal complaints filed by officials – some involving more than one person.
When Sunak launched the inquiry, Downing Street made it clear that while Tolley would establish the facts, the prime minister was the “ultimate arbiter” of the cabinet code.
Sunak, who became prime minister in October, has previously had Sir Gavin Williamson resign from his cabinet post over bullying allegations. Then, in January, he sacked Nadhim Zahawi as chairman of the Conservative Party after his ethics adviser found he had committed “serious breaches” of the ministerial code by failing to be transparent about his tax affairs.
Earlier this year, the Financial Times spoke to five senior officials who had worked with Raab, four of whom said they believed his conduct involved intimidation. “He gets angry uncontrollably over minor things,” one said.
Three current or former permanent secretaries — the senior officials in the departments — testified as part of Tolley’s investigation, according to people briefed on the investigation.
Lord Simon McDonald, who was permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office when Raab was foreign secretary, told Times Radio in November that “many [civil servants] were afraid to enter his office.
Former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Raab supporter, accused the plaintiffs of being “snowflakes”.
Raab is paying for his own legal advice during the investigation, according to a Minister’s Register update released Wednesday, which said the minister “has engaged attorneys at his own expense.”