Sunday shows round-up: Raab ‘a man of his word’, says Dowden

Is Dominic Raab a bully?

Dominic Raab resigned as Deputy Prime Minister this week, after an investigation into bullying upheld some of the allegations against him. He didn’t go quietly however, claiming some ‘activist civil servants’ had been trying to block reforms they did not like. His successor, Oliver Dowden, told Sophy Ridge he had nothing to add to the findings of the investigation, but he hoped there wouldn’t be any lessening of the high standards civil servants are held to. He described Raab as a ‘man of his word’:

‘Not just a bullying minster, a failing minister’

The Shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions was less sympathetic in his assessment of Dominic Raab. Speaking to Sophy Ridge, he agreed that high standards needed to be maintained, but attacked Raab’s record on the backlog in the courts, and questioned Rishi Sunak’s judgment, after losing a third cabinet minister:

Ofsted is a ‘lightning rod’ for criticism

Laura Kuenssberg’s programme was heavily focussed on education. In the wake of the tragic death of headteacher Ruth Perry, questions have arisen over whether Ofsted actually has a positive impact on the education sector, with some calling for a halt to inspections. Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman spoke for the first time since Ruth Perry’s death, and defended Ofsted’s process, suggesting it becomes something of a scapegoat in the midst of wider problems in the sector, and a lot of bad feeling:

Mary Bousted – Ofsted has lost its legitimacy

General Secretary of the National Education Union Mary Bousted disagreed strongly with Amanda Spielman’s assessment of Ofsted’s impact on teachers and schools, saying it created a culture of fear, changed its inspection framework far too often, and that its inspectors were in many cases not qualified to make judgments on the schools they inspected:

Would the Liberal Democrats form a coalition with Labour?

And finally, the leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey also spoke to Sophy Ridge, making a pitch for his party with local elections just around the corner. He said their plan was to attack Conservative seats, but refused to comment on whether he would join a coalition with Labour if the possibility arose, saying the question ‘took voters for granted’: