In the last few minutes Dominic Raab has announced that he has resigned from government following the findings of an investigation into allegations of bullying against him. Rishi Sunak received the report – by the barrister Adam Tolley KC – on Thursday morning and spent the evening consulting advisers on the best path forward as he pondered its contents. In the end, Raab made the decision for him.
In his letter, the deputy prime minister says he called for the inquiry and ‘undertook to resign, if it made any finding of bullying whatsoever’. Raab goes onto say that he believes it is important to ‘keep my word’ and the report has found against him on two counts.
That’s not to say, however, that Raab accepts the reports findings
That’s not to say, however, that Raab accepts the reports findings. He highlights that the report dismissed all but two allegations against him but that when it comes to those two ‘adverse’ findings, he believes they are ‘flawed’ and set a dangerous precedent. He says in his defence that ministers must be able to exercise direct oversight over senior officials and that they must be able to give ‘direct critical feedback’. These comments will be put into wider context when more details of the report’s contents emerge. It’s clear Raab plans to fight to defend his reputation even if he has chosen to leave government as a result of the findings. He has penned an article for the Telegraph in which he says ‘the Kafkaesque saga I endured was shorn of the safeguards most people enjoy’.
So, where does this leave Rishi Sunak? The Prime Minister was facing accusations from opposition MPs last night that he was dithering, weak and indecisive. Had the saga dragged into the weekend, Tory MPs might have started to say that too. But Raab’s criticism of the process – he is yet to criticise Sunak directly – means that the story will run on.
Sunak and his team are understood to have been genuinely torn over the report’s findings. That Raab has chosen to go – despite excited briefings from ‘allies’ that he would ‘fight to the death’ – has made things much simpler for No. 10. The fact that Raab is a close ally of the Prime Minister who campaigned for him in the summer when it was distinctly unfashionable to do so suggests that the long serving cabinet minister in the end chose to make it less painful for Sunak. However, the fact that Raab has raised concerns about the inquiry itself will lead some MPs to ask whether Sunak should have stood by his loyal minister.
As for what comes next, the Prime Minister needs to appoint a new Justice Secretary. This is expected to happen later today – the full (very lengthy) report could also be published before the weekend. He does not have to have a deputy prime minister so this position could end as of today. Sunak may use Raab’s departure as an opportunity to tie up other loose ends such as maternity leave cover for the new science department – with the secretary of state Michelle Donelan due to go on maternity leave.
So far, Sunak has said nothing publicly of Raab’s departure. When he does emerge, the Prime Minister will be pressed on whether he backs Tolley’s finding as legitimate or agrees with Raab that they set a dangerous precedent.
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