Ministers will continue demanding high standards from civil servants in the aftermath of a report that found Dominic Raab exhibited intimidating and abrasive behaviour towards staff, the new deputy prime minister has said.
Oliver Dowden, who took over the role from Raab, said those in the cabinet often worked in “highly pressured situations” and that he had experienced “frustrations” dealing with officials, too.
Though he said it was right Raab had quit, Dowden called him as a “very effective” justice secretary who had offered a “huge amount” of public service to the country.
After Raab’s resignation on Friday, prompted by a report that found he was unreasonably and persistently aggressive towards staff, some Conservative MPs have leaped to his defence and sought to suggest the bar for bullying is too low.
To reassure them, Dowden told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: “I certainly don’t want the outcome of this to be and it certainly won’t be the case for me that there will be any letting up in the high standards I expect of civil servants.”
He added: “We all work hard to be as professional as we possibly can. But at the heart of it, I think anyone who has worked at the top level of government – and I’ve been fortunate enough to serve as a cabinet minister – knows that we’re in highly pressured situations.”
Dowden, who is chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said it was “not his experience” that civil servants could be unconstructive, and praised those he worked with as culture secretary during the pandemic to devise a scheme to support the arts.
He said “of course, you can have frustrations, and believe me, I’ve had my frustrations as well”, but that ministers and senior civil servants were “united in their goal of serving the British people”.
Following the report into Raab’s behaviour, which was the result of a nearly five-month inquiry by the senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC, Dowden said there was “a need to look at our processes” to make the rules on conduct “simpler and fairer”.
Raab has not held back since stepping down from the government, continuing to give interviews. Speaking to the Sun on Sunday, he defended his “straight talk and direct dealing” approach, and accused complainants of a “coordinated and concerted” effort that amounted to a “politicised attack”. Asked if he thought staff had “smelled blood”, he said “yes”.
In another interview with the Mail on Sunday, Raab argued he had left government with his “head held high” and “integrity intact”.
Labour used the Raab report to pile pressure on the prime minister. Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday show that the debacle “calls into question Rishi Sunak’s judgment in appointing him”.
He pointed to the departure of Gavin Williamson for bullying staff and Nadhim Zahawi’s sacking for failing to declare an investigation by HMRC over his taxes.
Ashworth said there was “nothing wrong with being demanding”, and added: “There are many, many ministers in this government who don’t have complaints about [civil servants]. So it is possible to be a government minister and not bully your staff.”
