The official investigation into claims Dominic Raab bullied government staff will not offer a verdict and will leave Rishi Sunak to assess whether his behaviour merits punishment, it has emerged.
The independent probe by lawyer Adam Tolley KC will reportedly set out the facts of the case – but make no recommendations about whether Mr Raab broke the rules.
The report expected when parliament returns from Easter recess will leave Mr Sunak to make to decision whether or not to sack his deputy PM and justice secretary, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Mr Raab has previously said he will resign if found to have bullied staff, but the report suggests Mr Tolley’s report may not come to any definitive conclusion on whether his behaviour amounted to bullying.
“Rishi and Dominic are very close. If he is going, he will own it and just do it,” one source told the newspaper. “There’s a chance he announces something before we even know. If he is staying, the report will be published and we will have a chance to have a look at it.”
Mr Sunak has been “contingency planning” for the report being damning enough that Mr Raab will have to quit, according to the Sunday Times – with the report said to be likely to come in the week beginning 24 April.
The PM is thought to be unlikely he will appoint another deputy prime minister to replace Mr Raab if he does have to go – but culture secretary Lucy Fraser and Treasury minister Victoria Atkins have been tipped as potential replacements as justice secretary.
Mr Raab has denied bullying and insisted he had “behaved professionally throughout” – but said that he would resign if an allegation of bullying was upheld.
He has also suggested the rules surrounding the inquiry into whether he bullied officials may have been breached by witnesses speaking to the media.
However, the FDA civil service union’s general secretary Dave Penman has said some staff who worked with the senior cabinet minister had suffered “mental health crises” and been forced to quit and downgrade jobs as a result of his behaviour.
A former official told ITV News at the end of March that civil servants in the Foreign Office were terrified of having contact with Mr Raab or even speaking to the close circle in the minister’s office.
Some people allegedly described working in the office as like “going to Pyongyang or Moscow, a place where officials face significant risks”, according to the official.
Mr Sunak ordered the investigation in November after coming under pressure following numerous claims, including that he was so demeaning to junior colleagues that many were “scared” to enter his office.
Boris Johnson and the Foreign Office’s former permanent secretary Simon McDonald are those understood to have given evidence to the investigating lawyer’s team.
