You can call former UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab a history maker, although he’d probably prefer not to have that moniker. He’s the first government official to resign because of “bullying” accusations, signaling a sensitive culture that’s gone too far. So let’s go into the details and you can judge for yourself.
Eight civil servants working under Raab presented complaints. One of the specific complaints doesn’t seem to be that huge of a deal. After expressing frustration for not receiving basic information from his staff, according to a report, Raab called some of his employees “utterly woeful” and “useless”.
Amazingly, that’s all the report had. They did point fingers at Raab however, saying he was “intimidating, in the sense of unreasonably and persistently aggressive conduct in the context of a work meeting. He abused or misused power in a way that undermines or humiliates.”
This may all signal back to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his overly cautious approach to keeping his party in power. In the UK, a prime minister can be tossed out at a moment’s notice. Remember Liz Truss? She didn’t even make it two months before she was tossed out as prime minister. Sunak ran against her for the conservative nomination against her and lost. Since he was the runner up, he clinched the nomination in the next go-around. Raab is the third cabinet minister in 6 months to resign, and certainly the most high profile one.
Raab had some choice words following his departure. It’s clear he didn’t want to resign, but protocol is to do so when your boss asks for it. “In setting the threshold for bullying so low, this inquiry has set a dangerous precedent. It will encourage spurious complaints against ministers and have a chilling effect on those driving change on behalf of your government — and ultimately the British people.”
So much for the jolly Brits.
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