UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab is facing an independent investigation ordered by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after two allegations were made against him for intimidating public officials.
«I have just been notified that two separate allegations have been made against me during my time as foreign secretary and my first term as justice minister, which ended in September this year,» Raab said in a letter, in which he called for an independent commission to judge his case.
Also, Raab has indicated in the letter, published on his official Twitter profile, that he has never tolerated harassment and that in the eight positions he has held — in four departments — he has been committed to «empower» the different teams of civil servants.
During a session of questions to the ‘premier’ in the House of Commons, the British deputy prime minister has claimed that he is «confident» that he has behaved professionally in his positions. Asked if he ever threw a tomato at a member of staff, Raab has denied that accusation. «That never happened,» he said, as reported by Sky News.
Sunak, who is back from the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, will appoint a person to carry out the investigation, as there is still no replacement for Downing Street ethics adviser Christopher Geidt, who resigned in June amid investigations against former Prime Minister Boris Johnson for partying and breaking the rules at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As such, a selection process is underway to conduct the investigation. The current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, after learning of the allegations against Raab, has indicated that an independent investigation is the «right» decision, although he has indicated that he was not aware of the complaints.
A former senior civil servant said Tuesday in an interview for Times Radio that his colleagues were «scared» to go to Raab’s office when he was foreign minister because he was «very hard on people» and «people felt degraded,» as reported by the BBC.
