British deputy prime minister Dominic Raab resigns from Cabinet following bullying probe
Dominic Raab is determined to battle on as Rishi Sunak ponders whether to sack the British deputy prime minister. Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA
British deputy prime minister Dominic Raab has confirmed he will resign from Rishi Sunak's Cabinet following the conclusion of an inquiry into bullying allegations.
Ministers had insisted it was “fair” that Rishi Sunak takes his time to ponder whether to sack Dominic Raab, with the fate of the deputy prime minister hanging in the balance after Mr Sunak received a report into whether he bullied officials.
In a resignation letter to the British prime minister, Mr Raab said: “I am writing to resign from your government, following receipt of the report arising from the inquiry conducted by Adam Tolley KC.
“It has been a privilege to serve you as Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work as a minister in a range of roles and departments since 2015, and pay tribute to the many outstanding civil servants with whom I have worked.
“Whilst I feel duty bound to accept the outcome of the inquiry, it dismissed all but two of the claims levelled against me.
“I also believe that its two adverse findings are flawed and set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government.”
After being accused of “dither”, Mr Sunak was taking a second day to determine whether he will kick Mr Raab out of his Cabinet as he reviews senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC’s investigation.
Mr Sunak received the report on Thursday morning but Downing Street was unable to say if his verdict, and the report itself, will come on Friday.
Mr Raab, who is also British justice secretary, has read the report and maintains he has not mistreated colleagues or broken the Ministerial Code, the PA news agency was told.
A source close to Mr Raab said Mr Sunak has not asked him to resign and denied the pair had held talks over his future.
No 10 had promised that Mr Sunak’s verdict on the eight formal allegations would be published “swiftly”.
But as a decision was delayed, a Downing Street source said Mr Sunak was “taking time to go through the report thoroughly”.
Labour accused Mr Sunak of lacking the “guts” to sack his ally and said the decision was distracting him from leading the country.
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry told PA: “I think it’s another example of Conservative chaos and not addressing the problems of the country.
“He’s going to spend tonight looking at the report and trying to summon up the courage to work out whether he should sack his deputy or not when really what he should be doing is focusing on a cost-of-living crisis.
“He’s got the report, read the report, if he’s a bully, sack him.”
Amy Leversidge, assistant general secretary at the FDA Union which represents civil servants, called the delay a “really shoddy way to treat people”.
“I do think the prime minister could have shown a bit more compassion to everyone involved in making the complaint and spoken to them personally about what they could expect and when they could expect it,” she told .
“The prime minister didn’t have to announce that he was going to make a decision yesterday and I think that’s obviously what’s fuelled all of this.”
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: “People will be fed up with this dither and delay from Rishi Sunak.
“It feels like almost every week there is an issue with sleaze and scandal where Rishi Sunak is either implicated himself or too weak to get to grips with it.
“People are crying out for a Government that will just get on with tackling the issues that matter, not focused on saving their own skin.”
The eight complaints against Mr Raab centre on his behaviour as foreign secretary, Brexit secretary and during his first stint as justice secretary.
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