he Deputy Prime Minister has resigned from Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet, following the conclusion of an inquiry into bullying allegations.
In a post on Twitter on Friday morning, Dominic Raab, who is also the Justice Secretary, said he had “called for the inquiry and undertook to resign, if it made any finding of bullying whatsoever”.
Mr Raab’s resignation comes before the Government has published the official report, from Adam Tolley KC,.
Downing Street and the Prime Minister received the findings of the months-long investigation on Thursday morning
The eight complaints against Mr Raab had centred on his behaviour as Foreign Secretary, Brexit Secretary and during his first stint as Justice Secretary.
In his letter he said he felt “duty bound” to accept the outcome of the inquiry but insisted it had dismissed all but two of the claims “levelled against me”.
He added: “I also believe that its two adverse findings are flawed and set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government.”
He is “genuinely sorry” for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt as a result of the “pace, standards and challenge” that he brought to the Ministry of Justice, he said.
But Mr Raab said he believed the would encourafindings of the report would encourage “spurious complaints against ministers”.
“In setting the threshold for bullying so low, this inquiry has set a dangerous president,” he claimed.
He added: “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.”
The Prime Minister had faced calls that he was “dithering” in his response to the inquiry findings, on Thursday night.
On Friday morning, Cabinet Minister Mark Harper had said Mr Sunak wanted to bring the issue to a “swift conclusion”.
He said the probe was an “extensive piece of work” and stressed that Mr Sunak saw “due process” as important and so was not rushing to a decision as he wanted to be “fair” to Mr Raab and the civil servants who had made complaints against him.
Mr Harper told Times Radio: “He will want to reach a swift conclusion.
“But he will want to do that properly, after properly considering what will no doubt be a lengthy report at the end of a five-month long investigation.”
He added: “I do know that the inquiry took five months, so it seems to me that it is a very extensive piece of work.
Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, which represents many Whitehall staff, said: “There has been a toxic culture at the top of government for too long with civil servants and public trust paying the price for this chaos.
“The Prime Minister now needs to clean out the rest of the stables.
“These issues go to the heart of the anger and distrust many people feel towards the way our country runs. It is time for Ministers to step up and to start restoring trust both for civil servants and the good of the country.
“It is never easy to speak out about abuse from someone in power and I would like to pay tribute to those who have had the courage to do so.
“This should be a wake-up call for Ministers, that the way to deliver for the public is to respect and value public servants.”