Dominic Raab’s ‘perverse culture of fear’ left Ministry of Justice staff ‘in tears’

Dominic Raab oversaw a “perverse culture of fear” at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) that left staff in tears, a formal complaint has claimed.

The Deputy Prime Minister has been accused of presiding over a “dysfunctional working culture” during his previous stint as justice secretary, which ended in September of this year.

The complaint also alleged that Mr Raab was “often abrupt” and “rude” to officials, adding that there have been “multiple" examples of colleagues “being left in tears” after being on the receiving end of his behaviour.

This week, it emerged that two separate formal complaints have been made about Mr Raab, but he said he is “confident” that he has behaved “professionally” at all times.

On Wednesday he told the Commons: “I’m confident I behaved professionally throughout but of course, I will engage thoroughly and look forward to transparently addressing any claims that have been made.”

He has become embroiled in a series of bullying allegations in recent days relating to his behaviour towards officials.

Mr Raab now faces an investigation into his conduct, which will be conducted by a newly appointed independent official who will report directly to Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister.

A formal complaint, seen by The Times, said: “We are extremely worried about the perverse culture of fear that is clearly permeating this department.

“We are proud of the work we do here, but the tangible shift towards a dysfunctional working culture is starting to hinder that.”

The letter of complaint was originally submitted by a group of mid-ranking officials in March to a more senior civil servant within the MoJ.

It was submitted again this week, making clear that it was a formal complaint against Mr Raab. Until Wednesday, Downing Street had claimed that no formal complaints had been made.

The letter alleged that the “combination of the pressure of work and unreasonable deadlines” in the MoJ under Mr Raab's leadership has had “such an impact on some colleagues’ mental and physical health that they have visited their GPs, and some have subsequently been signed off work for extended periods of time”.

Mr Raab was appointed justice secretary for the first time in September last year, after he was demoted from the Foreign Office by Boris Johnson, the former prime minister. At the time, he was also appointed Deputy Prime Minister. 

When Liz Truss entered Downing Street, he was sacked from the front bench - but was reappointed to both roles last month by Mr Sunak.

The officials who penned the complaint described a “significant decline in the working environment” along with a “notable detrimental impact on the mental and physical wellbeing of colleagues at all levels”.

They said: “We appreciate that, as civil servants, there are times when we do need to deliver work at pace but currently we are being asked to deliver everything at pace and many of the unreasonably short deadlines are arbitrarily imposed by ministers and [special advisers] without clear justification. These deadlines are not one-offs but are constant and unrelenting.

“This is causing significant, undue pressure on colleagues, who are routinely working well beyond their contracted working hours in order to meet demands placed upon them.”

When their work was submitted, the officials said: “We anticipate harsh criticism and rudeness on the basis of the quality of the work and this means that clearance processes are extremely lengthy due to this nervousness also being felt at more senior levels within the line management chain.”

On Wednesday morning, Mr Raab wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to launch an “independent investigation” into the claims “as soon as possible”.

Mr Sunak then told his deputy that “integrity, professionalism and accountability are core values of this government” and said that an investigation was the “right course of action”.

Number 10 later confirmed that the Prime Minister will appoint an independent investigator to conduct the probe. The investigator will be supported by a team of civil servants from the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team.  

Over the past few days, there have been a series of claims about Mr Raab’s conduct in various Cabinet roles, including claims from a former mandarin that Foreign Office staff were “scared” to enter his office.

Lord McDonald, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office until 2020, said employees had felt “demeaned” by the tone Mr Raab used towards them.

Meanwhile, civil servants in the MoJ were reportedly offered “routes” out of the department after Mr Raab was reappointed.

He was also once said to have left staff taken aback by allegedly hurling tomatoes across a table in a fit of rage.