PM must stand up for civil service after Dominic Raab’s attacks, says ex-Foreign Office chief
Rishi Sunak must stand up for the civil service after Dominic Raab’s resignation over bullying complaints from his staff, a former Foreign Office chief has said.
Mr Raab quit his roles in government last week after two complaints were upheld against him for acting in an “intimidating way” and being “unreasonably and persistently aggressive” in meetings.
But the former deputy prime minister left swinging, accusing some civil servants of being “activists” with a “passive aggressive” agenda against him.
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Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, Sir Simon McDonald – who was Mr Raab’s permanent secretary during his time at the Foreign Office – said it was possible the civil service could end up unfairly vilified if the prime minister did not defend it from the claims.
Sir Simon said the prime minister “is also the minister for the civil service”, adding: “He knows the civil service, he is surrounded by civil servants in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office, he knows their ethos, he knows their quality.
“So I hope that the prime minister and other ministers do publicly recognise that.”
Sir Simon said the service couldn’t speak out due to their roles “so a debate can rage about them without any serving civil service participation”.
He added: “I think that is an unfair debate, and another reason for me as a retired civil servant, to speak out.
“Because I worked for the civil service for 38 years. The characterisation given by Mr Raab I think is flat wrong.”
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In the exclusive interview, Sir Simon also said Mr Raab should apologise for his behaviour.
He said ministers were “frustrated when action doesn’t happen as quickly as they want” and were “more interested in that action than possible reasons for the delay”.
But he added: “There can be a conversation around that, that the minister can call in and have a perfectly civil conversation with a senior official, with a permanent secretary, about why things are not happening, to dig down into that. That is completely legitimate.
“You do not need to intimidate or humiliate or threaten staff in order to shift the system.”
The former permanent secretary repeated previous claims that he had spoken to Mr Raab about his conduct after junior civil servants raised it with him – though he did not think it crossed the threshold of bullying at that time.
“[Mr Raab] was, as he describes, inquisitorial, fastidious, quite sceptical, he was a tough boss,” said Sir Simon.
“[I talked] to him about his impact, the impact of his behaviour on the people around him, and I did that, they were not easy conversations.
“But I wanted him to see how he was treating the people around him was affecting the outcomes, was affecting his productivity, his delivery, and he resisted that, and he consistently resisted that.”
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He said he was not surprised that Mr Raab “doesn’t think he did anything wrong”, adding: “He thinks that a certain management style is not only acceptable, but, in his words, professional. I think that is a fundamental misunderstanding.”
But Sir Simon was “dismayed” by the lack of a fulsome apology.
He added: “I hope he will reflect, I mean, there’s still time. Mr Raab may still want a political career. I think if he’s to come back, he needs to reflect.”
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
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Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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