Dominic Raab’s political career hangs in the balance as Rishi Sunak has received the report into bullying allegations against his deputy prime minister.
Downing Street confirmed that the findings of an independent investigation had landed on the prime minister’s desk on Thursday morning – with its release now expected within hours.
Mr Sunak must decide if the review by lawyer Adam Tolley KC – said to be “devastating” – is enough to sack the senior Tory cabinet minister, or ask him to resign.
The PM’s official spokesman said he was “carefully considering those findings”, but would not comment further on exactly when the report will be published.
But it is thought the result of the long-running probe by Mr Tolley KC will be made public, along with a decision by Mr Sunak, later on Thursday.
The PM’s spokesperson said the PM “does have full confidence in the deputy prime minister – that still stands. Obviously he is carefully considering the findings of the report”.
Mr Raab has denied allegations of bullying – insisting that he believes “heart and soul” that he is not a bully. But the justice secretary has said he will resign if a bullying claim is upheld.
Senior officials at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are reportedly preparing to quit if the PM chooses to keep Mr Raab in government because it would be “demoralising” for staff.
Mr Raab has been under investigation for months over eight formal complaints about his behaviour as foreign secretary, Brexit secretary and during his first stint as justice secretary.
Unnamed civil servants have accused Mr Raab of causing staff to break down in tears or throw up before meetings. The minister was also accused of chucking Pret-A-Manger tomatoes across a room in a “fit of rage” – an episode he denied.
Mr Tolley is said to have been “thorough” in his handling of the investigation, having interviewed Mr Raab multiple times and spoken to or taken written evidence from a number of others.
“If he stays in the department, senior people will want to walk,” one official told The Guardian, while another said some would get ready to “leave in the near future”.
One person involved in the process described the report by Adam Tolley KC as “devastating” while a senior government official said Mr Raab was “toast”, according to the Financial Times.
Former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry has hit out at the “outdated” system for dealing with complaints in Westminster which has allowed Mr Raab to continue in his job while under investigation.
Sir Jake told ITV’s Peston show on Wednesday night it was “wrong” for Mr Raab to continue in his job while facing bullying allegations. “It’s a massively outdated system that isn’t what our constituents would expect of any of us.”
The senior Tory, who served in the cabinets of both Boris Johnson and Theresa May, said: “It does seem to me quite wrong that when people are under these kinds of investigations of this type that they continue in their job.”
It emerged in the heavily delayed register of ministerial interests on Wednesday that Mr Raab had forked out for his own legal team to defend himself against the allegations.
The decision to pay for his lawyers came despite the taxpayer footing an estimated £222,000 bill for Boris Johnson’s legal fees in the Partygate inquiry into whether he lied to MPs.
Mr Raab tweeted about rape statistics on Thursday. The justice secretary said a 38 per cent increase rape convictions in the last quarter “show our efforts are working”. He added: “There’s more to do and we’re quadrupling victims funding and improving police-CPS collaboration so victims feel better supported.”
