Dominic Raab has said he will resign from the cabinet following the conclusion of an inquiry into bullying allegations.
The Tory Deputy Prime Minister and justice secretary has been facing allegations of bullying for months.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak received the report from senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC’s investigation on Thursday and had been considering the findings since. Raab was also given the report to review.
The report found that Raab had acted in an "intimidating" way with "unreasonably and persistently aggressive conduct".
Raab accepted the report's conclusions but criticised the "threshold for bullying" for being "so low" in his resignation letter to Sunak. He said that it "will encourage spurious complaints against ministers and have a chilling effect on those driving change."
He said that the report had "dismissed all but two of the claims levelled against me" but that the "two adverse findings are flawed and set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government"
Raab added that the report concluded that he "had not once, in four and a half years, sworn or shouted at anyone, let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimidated anyone, nor intentionally sought to belittle anyone."
He also said that he was "sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice" but added that this is "what the public expect of ministers working on their behalf."
He said: “First, ministers must be able to exercise direct oversight with respect to senior officials over critical negotiations conducted on behalf of the British people, otherwise the democratic and constitutional principle of ministerial responsibility will be lost.
“This was particularly true during my time as Foreign Secretary, in the context of the Brexit negotiations over Gibraltar, when a senior diplomat breached the mandate agreed by Cabinet.
“Second, ministers must be able to give direct critical feedback on briefings and submissions to senior officials in order to set the standards and drive the reform the public expect of us. Of course, this must be done within reasonable bounds.
“Mr Tolley concluded that I had not once, in four and a half years, sworn or shouted at anyone, let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimidated anyone, nor intentionally sought to belittle anyone.
“I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice. That is, however, what the public expect of ministers working on their behalf.
“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.
“Finally, I raised with you a number of improprieties that came to light during the course of this inquiry. They include the systematic leaking of skewed and fabricated claims to the media in breach of the rules of the inquiry and the Civil Service Code of Conduct, and the coercive removal by a senior official of dedicated private secretaries from my Ministry of Justice private office, in October of last year. I hope these will be independently reviewed."
Raab has served in the government since 2015, barring Liz Truss' short stint as Prime Minister.
He was made Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Sceretary in September 2021 and was reappointed in October when Sunak took over.
He also served as Foreign Secretary between July 2019 and September 2021, stepping in for then-PM Boris Johnson when he was ill with covid.
He ran for the Tory leadership in 2019 and backed Sunak in both of last year's contests.
There have been allegations about Raab's behaviour for years, with Sunak appointing Tolley to look into official complaints which were made.
His resignation comes months after the Prime Minister moved to sack Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative Party chair amid controversy over his tax affairs, while Gavin Williamson resigned only days into his premiership after it was alleged he sent expletive-laden messages to a former chief whip.
The SNP accused Raab of showing "no sympathy towards his victims" and "pointing the finger at everyone else but himself."
SNP Cabinet Office spokesperson Kirsty Blackman said: "The Tories’ stand in Prime Minister had no choice but to go following the publication of this damning report.
“In his resignation letter, Raab referred to the Tory manual on apologies and showed no sympathy towards his victims - pointing the finger at everyone else but himself.
"Bullying in any form is unacceptable, no matter how 'low the bar is' according to Dominc Raab.
"There are still huge questions for the Tories to answer about what Rishi Sunak knew about the allegations against Dominic Raab when he appointed him Deputy Prime Minister. If he knew his right-hand man was a bully, then he is also responsible for his behaviour - voters deserve to know.
"Sunak must ensure this culture cannot continue and make sure his chosen Deputy Prime Minister never returns to government."
The Liberal Democrats have called for Raab to resign as an MP and for a by-election to take place.
Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said: “Dominic Raab has shown he is not only unfit to serve as a minister, but is totally unfit to represent his constituents in Parliament. He should resign as an MP and trigger a by-election so the people of Esher and Walton can finally have the MP they deserve.
“Voters across Surrey and the Blue Wall are fed up with this endless Conservative chaos and MPs who take their communities for granted. At the next election in Esher and Walton, it will be a two horse race between more Conservative party chaos or a hardworking Liberal Democrat MP who will listen and stand up for local people.”
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