Dominic Raab under the spotlight: What has led to the deputy prime minister being investigated
Soon after Rishi Sunak took office, Dominic Raab was sitting in Number 10 being offered his old jobs back, after a short hiatus from government thanks to Liz Truss.
His return to government as justice secretary and deputy prime minister has been accompanied by questions over his conduct during his previous tenures in the roles, and at other departments too.
Sources close to Mr Raab have hit back at the claims, with a number of his Tory colleagues describing him as “an excellent and considerate boss”.
As accusations continue to emerge, let’s look back at what has been reported so far:
‘Respite or route out’
The first claims against Mr Raab emerged in The Guardian and relate to his stint at the Ministry of Justice between September 2021 and September 2022 under Boris Johnson.
Around 15 senior civil servants in his private office had been offered “respite or a route out” after his return was announced, the newspaper said, due to concerns some were still traumatised from working for him.
Multiple MoJ sources also said he had previously created a “culture of fear” in the department, alleging he was “demeaning rather than demanding” with civil servants, and that he was “very rude and aggressive”, adding: “[He] wasn’t just unprofessional, he was a bully.”
A spokesperson for the department said there was “zero tolerance for bullying across the civil service”, adding: “The deputy prime minister leads a professional department, driving forward major reforms, where civil servants are valued and the level of ambition is high.”
Tomatoes and riot acts
Within hours of the story breaking on 11 November, two more emerged from Mr Raab’s earlier time at the MoJ.
One told The Sun he had thrown tomatoes from his salad at staff.
Another in the Mirror said he had been given the nickname “The Incinerator” because of how quickly he “burns through” employees.
A spokesman for the deputy PM dismissed the salad attack claim as “complete nonsense” and denied a high turnover of staff in his departments.
All three of the articles also claimed the permanent secretary, Antonia Romeo, warned Mr Raab to treat staff with respect on his return, with one source, who was not in the room at the time, saying she had “read him the riot act”.
Boris Johnson appointed Dominic Raab to his cabinet after he took office in 2019
The next day, a single source told ITV News that the Cabinet Office had been informed about concerns over Mr Raab’s behaviour when he was Brexit secretary in 2018.
The Observer picked up the story, saying a “formal expression of concern” had been sent to a senior official in the Department for Exiting the European Union, alleging “unprofessional, even bullying, conduct of the minister towards his private office”.
The Cabinet Office told the newspaper at the time that it had “no record of any formal complaints” being passed on.
Surveys and support
Days later, the focus fell on to Mr Raab’s time as foreign secretary, between July 2020 and September 2021.
A survey was leaked to ITV News showing eight people working in his private office at the time claimed to have been bullied or harassed at work, while 15 staff reported witnessing another person being bullied or treated unfairly.
The results were anonymous, though, so neither the perpetrator nor victim could be identified.
In response, a spokesman for Mr Raab said he had “high standards, works hard and expects a lot from his team as well as himself”, but that he “worked well with officials” and “always acts with the utmost professionalism”.
As Rishi Sunak travelled to the G20 summit in Bali on 13 November, he faced questions about the reappointment of Mr Raab, but insisted he did not “recognise that characterisation” of his colleague and was “unaware” of any formal complaints being made against him.
Rishi Sunak gave his support to his deputy while on a flight to Bali for the G20
The next day, Monday 14 November, an interview with a former top official at the Foreign Office during Mr Raab’s tenure set tongues wagging again.
Former permanent secretary Lord Simon McDonald was asked on LBC whether the previous days’ bullying allegations were plausible, and he replied: “Yes.”
He added: “Dominic Raab is one of the most driven people I ever worked for, he was a tough boss.
“Maybe they are euphemisms, but I worked closely with him and I didn’t see everything that happened.”
Within hours, another story in The Guardian claimed Mr Raab had been warned about his behaviour towards officials at the Foreign Office on multiple occasions by none other than Lord McDonald.
The paper also alleged that Lord McDonald had several informal conversations with the head of the propriety and ethics team at the Cabinet Office about him between 2019 and 2020 about the issue.
A spokesman for Mr Raab told The Guardian: “Dominic had frequent discussions with his permanent secretary at the Foreign Office about how best to run the department and ensure that it delivered to the highest standard in challenging circumstances such as during COVID.”
Behaviour and high standards
Lord McDonald was back on the airwaves on Tuesday, talking to Times Radio about Mr Raab. He went further than in his LBC interview, saying many colleagues were “scared” to go into the then foreign secretary’s office when he was in charge.
The peer said Mr Raab “was not aware of the impact of his behaviour on the people working for him and couldn’t be made to see that impact”, adding: “Colleagues did not complain to me formally, it was kind of their professional pride to cope, but many were scared to go into his office.”
He said the minister’s defence was that “he treated everybody in the building in the same way – he was as abrasive and controlling with junior ministers and senior officials as he was with his private secretaries.”
Again, Mr Raab’s spokesman insisted he had “acted with professionalism and integrity in all of his government roles”, adding: “He has an excellent record of driving positive change in multiple government departments by working well with officials.
“He holds everyone, and most of all himself, to the high standards that the British people would expect of their government.”
Lord McDonald was the top civil servant at the Foreign Office during Mr Raab’s tenure.
There was another accusation coming his way – this time from Labour’s Lisa Nandy, who shadowed Mr Raab when he was at the Foreign Office.
She told Sky News she had heard “a number of rumours this was a pattern of behaviour”, adding: “It’s been something of an open secret in Westminster for the last few years there is a problem in the justice department, there was a problem in the Foreign Office – it was apparently particularly directed towards women.
“I think it’s really damning that Rishi Sunak has appointed Dominic Raab to this post knowing that this is potentially an issue.”
But Mr Raab’s spokesman “categorically” denied the allegation, while his team said suggestions he has a woman problem was “nonsense”.
A source close to Mr Raab said: “This is baseless mudslinging with no grounding in reality, and undermines serious cases of bullying and inappropriate behaviour.”
The investigation
Wednesday of that week meant Prime Minister’s Questions and it was down to Mr Raab, as Mr Sunak’s deputy, to stand in while the boss is away at the G20 summit.
But the drama came early as two hours before his appearance, he sent out a tweet, revealing he had written to the PM to request an independent investigation into two formal complaints that had been made against him – one at the Foreign Office and another at the Ministry of Justice.
Mr Raab said he had “never tolerated bullying, and always sought to reinforce and empower the teams of civil servants working in my respective departments”.
But he promised to “cooperate fully” with the investigation and “respect whatever outcome you decide”.
Mr Sunak replied, agreeing this was “the right course of action”, adding: “Integrity, professionalism and accountability are core values of this government. It is right that these matters are investigated fully.”
Investigation expanded
The formal complaints are being investigated by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC.
Just over a week after the investigation opened, Downing Street revealed its scope was expanding to include a third complaint – this time relating to Mr Raab’s time as Brexit secretary in 2018.
A day earlier, Mr Raab insisted he has “behaved professionally at all times” as he faced fresh allegations of bullying and intimidating behaviour.
Dominic Raab sat alongside Rishi Sunak at PMQs on 14 December, moments before the new complaints emerged.
BBC Newsnight reported that a number of the deputy PM’s former private secretaries across multiple departments were preparing to submit formal complaints.
Newsnight was also told that Mr Raab used his personal email account for government business at two separate departments – once as recently as 2021.
But Mr Raab said: “I have always adhered to the ministerial code, including the use of my iPhone.”
Come December, and the investigation was expanded again.
The PM’s official spokesman confirmed five additional complaints had been added to Mr Tolley’s in-tray relating to Mr Raab’s first stint as justice secretary between September 2021 and September 2022.
That made a total of six relating to this department and eight complaints overall.
More complaints emerge
In January, The Guardian reported that around 24 civil servants are thought to be involved in the complaints, making the inquiry much broader than originally anticipated.
Reports have also emerged of Mr Raab behaving like a “controlling and abusive partner” and leaving staff feeling suicidal.
A source told The Mirror: “He changes his behaviour depending on whether you are a civil servant he has control over or another government minister.”
Mr Raab’s spokesman refused to comment on those allegations, but a week earlier the cabinet minister had told the BBC: “I’m confident I behaved professionally throughout, and of course the government takes a zero-tolerance approach to bullying.”
Mr Raab added that he was “always mindful of the way I behave” but made “no apologies for having high standards”.
Pressure piles on PM
The three permanent secretaries who led officials working under the cabinet minister are thought to have given evidence to the investigation.
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Investigation into Dominic Raab should continue before action is taken, says minister
The report is not expected for several weeks, but opposition parties and union leaders have urged Mr Sunak to suspend his colleague until the investigation has concluded.
Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said the number and severity of the allegations mean Mr Raab should be suspended “in the interests of safety” but said Mr Sunak “is too weak to do that”.
Dave Penman, the leader of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, echoed this, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today: “That’s not to prejudge the investigation, that’s to say if there are serious allegations of bullying and extensive allegations like this, that one of the considerations is how do you protect employees from that sort of behaviour? And while it’s being determined, you would normally suspend someone, given the seriousness and extent of those accusations.”
No 10 has insisted it is right to wait for the investigation to be concluded before taking any action. It has not put a timeframe on when the investigation will finish, only saying it is hoped it will be concluded “swiftly”.
Speaking during a Cabinet awayday at his Chequers grace-and-favour retreat, Mr Sunak said; “I appointed an independent investigator to have a look at that matter. I’ll wait for that independent investigator to complete that investigation and report back to me.”
The UK will buy up to 7,000 long-range missiles, rockets and drones and build at least six weapons factories in a £1.5bn push to rearm at a time of growing threats.
The plan, announced by the government over the weekend, will form part of Sir Keir Starmer’s long-awaited Strategic Defence Review, which will be published on Monday.
However, it lacks key details, including when the first arms plant will be built, when the first missile will be made, or even what kind of missiles, drones and rockets will be purchased.
The government is yet to appoint a new senior leader to take on the job of “national armaments director”, who will oversee the whole effort.
Andy Start, the incumbent head of Defence Equipment and Support – the branch of defence charged with buying kit – is still doing the beefed-up role of national armaments director as a sluggish process to recruit someone externally rumbles on.
Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a presentation of Ukrainian military drones. Pic: Reuters
Revealing some of its content ahead of time, the Ministry of Defence said the defence review will recommend an “always on” production capacity for munitions, drawing on lessons learned from Ukraine, which has demonstrated the vital importance of large production lines.
It will also call for an increase in stockpiles of munitions – something that is vitally needed for the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to be able to keep fighting beyond a few days.
Sky News will launch a new podcast series on 10 June based around a wargame that simulates an attack by Russia against the UK to test Britain’s defences
“The hard-fought lessons from [Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind them,” John Healey, the defence secretary, said in a statement released on Saturday night.
“We are strengthening the UK’s industrial base to better deter our adversaries and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.”
Army Commandos load a 105mm Howitzer in Norway. Pic: Ministry of Defence/PA
The UK used to have a far more resilient defence industry during the Cold War, with the capacity to manufacture missiles and other weapons and ammunition at speed and at scale.
However, much of that depth, which costs money to sustain, was lost following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when successive governments switched funding priorities away from defence and into areas such as health, welfare and economic growth.
Even after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and a huge increase in demand from Kyiv for munitions from its allies, production lines at UK factories were slow to expand.
A reaper drone in the Middle East. Pic: Ministry of Defence
Sky News visited a plant run by the defence company Thales in Belfast last year that makes N-LAW anti-tank missiles used in Ukraine. Its staff at the time only worked weekday shifts between 7am and 4pm.
Under this new initiative, the government said the UK will build at least six new “munitions and energetics” factories.
Energetic materials include explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics, which are required in the manufacturing of weapons.
There were no details, however, on whether these will be national factories or built in partnership with defence companies, or a timeline for this to happen.
There was also no information on where they would be located or what kind of weapons they would make.
King Charles visits HMS Prince of Wales. Pic: PO Phot Rory Arnold/Ministry of Defence/PA
In addition, it was announced that the UK will buy “up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons for the UK Armed Forces”, though again without specifying what.
It is understood these weapons will include a mix of missiles, rockets and drones.
Sources within the defence industry criticised the lack of detail, which is so often the case with announcements by the Ministry of Defence.
The sources said small and medium-sized companies in particular are struggling to survive as they await clarity from the Ministry of Defence over a range of different contracts.
One source described a sense of “paralysis”.
The prime minister launched the defence review last July, almost a year ago. But there had been a sense of drift within the Ministry of Defence beforehand, in the run-up to last year’s general election.
The source said: “While the government’s intentions are laudable, the lack of detail in this announcement is indicative of how we treat defence in this country.
“Headline figures, unmatched by clear intent and delivery timelines which ultimately leave industry no closer to knowing what, or when, the MOD want their bombs and bullets.
“After nearly 18 months of decision and spending paralysis, what we need now is a clear demand signal from the Ministry of Defence that allows industry to start scaling production, not grand gestures with nothing to back it up.”
As well as rearming the nation, the government said the £1.5bn investment in new factories and weapons would create around 1,800 jobs across the UK.
A leading British palliative care consultant has described the assisted dying bill as “not fit for purpose” and is urging MPs to stop the bill from progressing any further.
Rejecting assurances from supporters of assisted dying who claim the proposed British version would be based on the scheme used in the American state of Oregon – widely regarded as the model with the most safeguards – Dr Amy Proffitt said “it’s far from a safe system”.
“The majority, 80% of the people that have assisted death have government insurance with Medicaid or Medicare suggesting that the vulnerable in society are not worth it,” she said.
“Put that into our NHS and what does it say about us as a society… those with disability, those with learning disabilities, those with social deprivation?”
Oregon’s assisted dying method is ‘far from a safe system,’ Dr Amy Proffitt said
Dr Proffitt added: “I think it’s deeply dangerous for the bill that has been proposed and it needs to be scrapped and we go back and look again.”
She and other leading palliative care doctors have expressed concern about the erosion of end of life care if the bill passes. It is a fear expressed by Britain’s hospice sector.
Read more:
Why is assisted dying so controversial – and where is it already legal?
Dr Ted Gruber, a retired Oregon doctor who has assisted numerous assisted deaths, says those fears have not been realised and the state’s hospice sector has strengthened since the introduction of assisted dying in Oregon in 1994.
He says he has never had any doubts about his role as a physician who assists a patient’s death.
“I’ve never been conflicted,” he explains. “I’ve attended a number of them.
“Each of the ones I’ve attended has been almost sacred if you will, it’s hard to explain but with the family there, the family dog in the bed, with the music playing that they want.
“Everyone’s sad, everyone’s crying, it’s not a joyful moment but in a way it’s kind of a sacred moment.”
Dr Ted Gruber told Sky News ‘I’ve never been conflicted’ about assisted dying
Oregon’s assisted dying laws have not seen the same number of changes to widen the cohort groups who would qualify for an assisted death in the way, for example, Canada has.
So it has managed to steer clear of the “slippery slope” criticism levelled at other programmes.
Dr Gruber also said the assisted death scheme in Oregon had enhanced the patient-physician relationship.
“The role of the doctor who is attending the dying patient is one of listening and paying attention to what the needs of the dying patient are and it’s eroded when the patient can’t trust the doctor,” he said.
“When I’ve seen a patient who has tried to talk to a doctor about aid in dying and they’re like ‘oh, I won’t do that, I’m opposed to it’… well that doesn’t enhance a doctor-patient relationship, it will be enhanced when a doctor says let’s talk about why you want to ask that.”
Read more from Sky News:
Assisted dying law ‘unworkable, unaffordable and naive’
MPs criticise Esther Rantzen’s assisted dying intervention
Oregon’s assisted death model is the closest to what is being proposed in the UK.
Both require it to apply only to adults who are terminally ill, mentally competent, and have six months to live or less, and to take the drugs themselves.
But while Oregon cases are reviewed by two doctors, in the UK they would be reviewed by a panel including a psychiatrist, a social worker and a legal professional.
In Oregon, the drugs are posted to the individual for them to take when ready, whereas in the UK, a healthcare professional would bring them on the day of the planned death.
Marcy Lehman’s father Ted was “her hero, the person I looked up to’. An Oregon doctor, he chose to have an assisted death at home in Portland surrounded by his family.
Marcy was there by his side. And it was for her, her mother and ultimately her father, the right decision.
“This was my hero, the person I looked up to, and now the roles were switched and I was taking care of him, and I had to be his hero,” Marcy said.
She explained that his stomach cancer “was starting to work up his system so he couldn’t eat.”
“My dad was a strong person and stronger even up until his death,” Marcy added.
‘He didn’t want someone to have to go to the bathroom with him,’ Marcy Lehman said
“He didn’t want someone to have to go to the bathroom with him to help with that or to feed him that wasn’t what he wanted – yeah, he was in pain, he could endure the pain, but it was really more the dignified way he wanted to leave this Earth.”
Ted’s family are grateful that they live in a state where assisted death is allowed. It’s a choice they would make again if they had to.
Now the UK must soon decide if that same choice is made available over here.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End Of Life) Bill was introduced to the House of Commons last October. Later next month, MPs will be asked to vote again in a ballot that will decide the fate of the proposed legislation.
As a ban on the sale of disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, a doctor who set up the first-ever clinic to help children stop vaping has said she has seen patients so addicted they couldn’t sleep through the night without them.
Professor Rachel Isba established the clinic at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool in January and has now seen several patients as young as 11 years old who are nicotine dependent.
“Some of the young people vape before they get out of bed. They are sleeping with them under their pillow,” she told Sky News.
Professor Rachel Isba set up the first-ever stop vaping clinic for children
“I’m hearing stories of some children waking up at three o’clock in the morning, thinking they can’t sleep, thinking the vape will help them get back to sleep. Whereas, actually, that’s the complete opposite of how nicotine works.”
Ms Isba said most of her patients use disposable vapes, and while some young people may use the chance to give up, others will simply move to refillable devices after the ban.
“To me, vaping feels quite a lot like the beginning of smoking. I’m not surprised, but disappointed on behalf of the children that history has repeated itself.”
A government ban on single-use vapes comes into effect from Sunday, prohibiting the sale of disposable vaping products across the UK, both online and in-store, whether or not they contain nicotine.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”.
Pic: PA
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today. The government calls time on these nasty devices.”
At nearby Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton, a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls said vape addiction is already rife among their friends.
Yasmin Dumbell said: “Every day we go out, and at least someone has a vape. I know people who started in year five. It’s constantly in their hand.”
Yasmin Dumbell says she knows students who started vaping in year five
Her friend Una Quayle said metal detectors were installed at her school to try to stop pupils bringing in vapes, and they are having special assemblies about the dangers of the devices.
But, she said, students “find ways to get around the scanners though – they hide them in their shorts and go to the bathroom and do it”.
Una Quayle says metal detectors installed at her school won’t stop students using vapes
The girls said the ban on disposables is unlikely to make a difference for their friends who are already addicted.
According to Una, they’ll “find a way to get nicotine into their system”.
As well as trying to address the rise in young people vaping, the government hopes banning single-use vapes will reduce some of the environmental impact the devices have.
Read more:
Disposable vape ban explained
Why vapes are environmentally bad
School support worker struck off over vapes boasts
Although all vapes can be recycled, only a tiny proportion are – with around eight million a week ending up in the bin or on the floor.
Pulled apart by hand
Even those that are recycled have to be pulled apart by hand, as there is currently no way to automate the process.
Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, a recycling non-profit group, said vapes were “some of the most environmentally wasteful, damaging, dangerous consumer products ever sold”.
His organisation worries that with new, legal models being designed to almost exactly mimic disposables in look and feel – and being sold for a similar price – people will just keep throwing them away.
He said the behaviour “is too ingrained. The general public have been told ‘vapes are disposable’. They’ve even been marketed this way. But they never were disposable”.
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