It confirmed the investigating lawyer had upheld two allegations of bullying, but Mr Raab went straight to the cases he had been absolved on.
There was a partial apology if people had felt intimidated but a robust defence, claiming he maintains the right to push officials hard.
Then the letter took aim at officials and Mr Raab spent a lot of time defending himself against allegations that weren’t made. The tone was angry. The mood bitter. It looked sour.
Image: Dominic Raab and Rishi Sunak during PMQs in November 2022
Pic:Jessica Taylor/HOC
However, having now reviewed the Tolley report, it is clear this case is more nuanced than it first looks.
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It will trigger arguments both ways and will feed into the national conversation about what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to workplace conduct – you can see why Downing Street took its time.
Adam Tolley did find instances when Raab was “involved in an abuse or misuse of power in a way that undermines or humiliates”.
The report states: “In particular, he went beyond what was reasonably necessary in order to give effect to his decision and introduced a punitive element. His conduct was bound to be experienced as undermining or humiliating by the affected individual, and it was so experienced. I infer that the DPM must have been aware of this effect; at the very least, he ought reasonably to have been so aware.”
However, some of the adverse judgements are more complex. Dominic Raab dispensed “unfair personal criticism” against civil servants and was “abrasive”. Yet this was in the context where he felt civil servants had not done their job properly and turned up inappropriately. Mr Tolley highlighted the fact the criticism wasn’t constructive – but is a minister not ever allowed to get angry at poor results from his team?
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5:41
Sam Coates looks at some of the findings of the report into Dominic Raab’s conduct and compares them with what the man himself has said
Mr Raab also alleges there was cultural resistance to his political agenda from some civil servants – while impossible to know if true, this will also complicate the reaction to this report.
On top of that, the investigation found there was a group of civil servants inside the Ministry of Justice effectively campaigning to get him removed. Tolley found that among them were people who had never met Mr Raab.
This will fuel conspiracy theories that the civil service was actively working to dislodge a secretary of state.
People take different views on what represents acceptable workplace practices. It’s clear working with Dominic Raab was far from easy at times. Does it amount to bullying? Was there a campaign against him?
There’s enough in that report to give both sides – Raab’s detractors and supporters – some succour. That’s why the tone of the coverage evolved.
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
Image: US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indianand Israelirepresentatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
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China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
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6:50
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.