Following an independent investigation into official charges of bullying, Dominic Raab, the British Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, resigned on Friday.
Raab stated that the investigation had created a risky precedent but that he would continue to support the administration in a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that was made public on Twitter.
“I called for the inquiry and undertook to resign, if it made any finding of bullying whatsoever. I believe it is important to keep my word,” Raab said.
However, he added: “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.”
Raab’s resignation means a third senior minister has departed over their personal conduct since Sunak entered Downing Street in October promising a government of integrity.
It has been suggested that Dominic Raab apologize to the rape victims who have been “denied justice” as a result of his “failures” as the Justice Secretary.
In a heated exchange in the Commons, Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of Labour, criticized Mr. Raab for the backlog of sexual violence cases, which has resulted in only 1.6% of rapists being charged with their crimes.
A woman goes through the worst experience of her life, Ms. Rayner said in place of Keir Starmer at PMQs. She musters the guts to recount her assault to the police in full, but she has only a 1.6% probability that any action will be done.
‘Over 98% of rapists will never see the inside of a courtroom, let alone a prison and the rest of those brave women, Madam Deputy Speaker, they keep looking over their shoulders and hope the perpetrator doesn’t choose tonight to take their revenge for reporting the incident to the police.’
Angela Rayner urged the Justice Secretary to apologise to rape victims who have been ‘denied justice’ under his watch (Picture: Getty)
She added: ‘In the last 13 years of the Tory government, more than half a million cases of rape have been recorded by the police but the charge rate for those attacks have collapsed.
‘He has served under five Tory Prime Ministers and had three years as Justice Minister, and on his watch, rapists are left to roam the streets. So will he apologise to those victims who will never get justice because of his failures?’
Mr Raab responded by saying that tackling rape is ‘one of our top priorities’, telling MPs: ‘She asks what we are doing about it, since 2019 police referrals of cases have doubled, CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) charges have doubled, she asks on my watch what has happened, the volume of convictions in rape cases has increased by two-thirds.
‘If she really wants to protect vulnerable women whether it is from rapists or other serious crimes they will back our parole reforms, which will mean ministers are able to prevent them being released into the public and cause more threats.’
But Ms Rayner countered: ‘He hasn’t answered my question because he is too ashamed of the answer: 1.6% of rapists faced being charged for their crime – 1.6%. Let that sink in.’
Mr Raab replied: ‘The conviction rate measured by the CPS – the leader of the Labour Party used to be in charge of the CPS, he might want to point this out – has gone up, it’s now at 69%.
‘We are doing much more to support the victims of rape as they come forward.
The deputy leaders were filling in for Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak at PMQs (Picture: Getty)
‘They (Labour) are talking a good game, in fact we have quadrupled funding for victims since 2010. If she looks at the latest data, the time it has taken from charge to completion of a rape case has come down by 10 weeks or 70% in the last three months alone.
‘She should get her facts straight, particularly when talking about such a sensitive issue.’
Ms Rayner countered: ‘He won’t apologise for the Government’s failures on charge rates and 69% of 1.6%, is that really something to boast about?’
She added: ‘On his watch, rape survivors are waiting on average more than three years for their cases to come to court … 10 weeks is not anything to boast about.
Those three years from the day of the assault to the final day of court, is it any wonder that from April to September last year 175 trials for rape and other serious sexual offences have had to be dropped because the victim could no longer cope with the delay.
‘So let me ask him, when will he apologise to all those women denied justice because of his failure to sort the court backlog?’
Ms Rayner’s comments come following the release of a bombshell report, titled ‘Breaking Point,’ from the charity Rape Crisis, which revealed a record high backlog of 7859 sexual offence cases and 1851 adult rape cases in the Crown Courts.
Over 98% of rapists never see the inside of a courtroom (Picture: Shutterstock)
The Breaking Point report shows that victims and survivors of rape and other serious sexual offences are waiting for the longest out of everyone to have their experiences heard in court, with an average wait of 839 days from report to completion in court.
During a case study in the report, one survivor shared how after waiting years for justice she no longer felt able to continue with the process.
‘For the process to take 8 years…truly anyone with any kind of humane understanding would appreciate this is not acceptable?’ They said.
‘And who is checking on this case…why did it truly take this long? They didn’t give a jury a chance to make their own minds up about this, because they took too long without courtesy contact and support.’
Elsewhere in the report is exclusive data from a Freedom of Information request to HM Courts and Tribunal Service which showed that the number of vacated and ineffective rape trials more than doubled from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.
In a breakdown of reasons for ineffective trial listings given to the Justice Select Committee, 1,925 cases were due to the prosecution advocate failing to attend an increase of 1722 in just 2 years.
On Tuesday, March 21, Ghana’s attorney general and minister of justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, met with the deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom and the Lord Chancellor, Dominic Raab.
The meeting at King Charles Street addressed a variety of subjects relating to the two countries’ judicial systems.
Mr Raab expressed his profound appreciation for Ghana’s strong support for the work of the International Criminal Court(ICC), evidenced through what he described as the “powerful statement” delivered by Ghana’s Attorney-General.
Mr Dame represented the African continent at the conference on Monday at Lancaster House, as well as unequivocal statements by the President of Ghana at various international fora.
In his view, Ghana was the beacon of hope and inspiration.
The UK Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice noted the steps Ghana’s Attorney-General was making to bring reform into criminal justice delivery in Ghana and stated that same was in the right direction.
He further indicated that for the United Kingdom, similar issues relating to prison reform as well as constitutional changes, in order to make decisions from the UK domestic courts assume greater prominence following the exit of the UK from the European Union, were very pressing.
Mr Raab noted that the passage of the plea bargaining law by Ghana will tremendously ease congestion in the courts of Ghana and expressed the desire to assist Ghana in any way possible with a smooth implementation of that law, given the UK’s experience with same.
Mr Dame underscored the need to urgently reform the processes for justice delivery in criminal cases in Ghana to make it more efficient and serve the public interest.
He noted that delays in criminal justice delivery constituted the greatest problem in that regard.
He disclosed to the UK Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Secretary of State for Justice the imminence of a bill to scrap interlocutory appeals, reform the jury system in Ghana and introduce leave to appeal certain decisions into the justice system in Ghana.
Mr Dame further highlighted the steps his administration is taking to introduce an alternative sentencing regime.
In civil matters, he indicated that the capacity of the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice of Ghana had to be boosted in order to be able to handle the litany of arbitration cases constantly filed against the Government of Ghana.
This was well received by Mr Dominic Raab, who affirmed the preparedness to facilitate any assistance from the UK’s Ministry of Justice as well as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The UK Deputy Prime Minister and Ghana’s Attorney-General exchanged complimentary gifts for each other and pledged their support for a closer UK-Ghana cooperative alliance which would result in an exchange of technical and other related support to both countries.
In attendance at the meeting were top officials of the UK Ministry of Justice and Alfred Tuah Yeboah, Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice, Helen A. A. Ziwu, the Solicitor-General and Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The day ended with a private dinner session hosted by Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at his residence in London.
When Dominic Raab was a member of his cabinet, Boris Johnson reportedly privately reprimanded him about how he treated his workers.
According to reports, the former prime minister gave Adam Tolley KC, a barrister looking into a string of bullying claims brought against Mr. Raab by top civil officials, evidence.
The Telegraph claims that it is ‘very rare’ for a previous prime minister to be involved in a Downing Street investigation.
It is not clear what evidence Mr Johnson gave, but his spokesman said ’it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing inquiry.’
But the revelation that Mr Johnson felt it necessary to warn Mr Raab about his conduct demonstrates the severity of the allegations against him.
Mr Raab, who currently serves as both Deputy PM and justice secretary, is facing at least eight formal complaints involving 24 people connected not only to the justice department but also the Foreign Office and the Brexit department, where he previously held cabinet positions.
Dozens of witnesses, including top departmental civil servants, are believed to have spoken to the inquiry about Mr Raab’s behaviour towards his junior staff, which broadly focus on claims of a demeaning and forthright attitude.
Amongst the charges levelled against Mr Raab are claims he ‘belittled and demeaned’ civil servants and was ‘very rude and aggressive’ to them on multiple occasions each day.
Raab has denied claims he mistreated his staff, and confirmed he would resign from government if an inquiry into his conduct found him guilty of bullying.
‘If an allegation of bullying is upheld, I would resign,’ the deputy PM previously told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge last month.
It has been one week since Mr Raab was interviewed by Mr Tolley, indicating that the official inquiry could be drawing to a conclusion.
Mr Raab said he would resign from government if the investigation found him guilty of bullying
It was unclear how many times he had been interviewed or when.
Rishi Sunak has resisted calls to suspend his deputy while under investigation, including from former Tory party chairman Sir Jake Berry, Labour and the FDA union which represents senior civil servants.
If the investigation is damning, Mr Sunak will again face questions about what he knew about the allegations before bringing Mr Raab back into the Cabinet.
Downing Street has only ruled out the Prime Minister being aware of ‘formal complaints’, but sources say he had been warned about his ally’s behaviour.
Mr Raab ordered the investigation in November after coming under pressure following numerous claims, including that he was so demeaning to junior colleagues that many were ‘scared’ to enter his office.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: ‘Adam Tolley KC is conducting an independent investigation into allegations against Dominic Raab. It would not be appropriate to comment further whilst that is ongoing.’
We reported earlier that a senior lawyer has been appointed by Rishi Sunak to look into complaints of bullying behaviour by Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab.
Commercial and employment law specialist Adam Tolley KC will look into the claims made against Mr Raab after two formal complaints were submitted about his conduct.
Mr Raab requested the independent investigation after the formal complaints about his actions.
However, Downing Street said Mr Sunak will not have to act on any findings made by the investigation because as prime minister he remains the ultimate arbiter of the ministerial code.
Now, Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain has said the prime minister must “commit” to sacking Mr Raab if the official investigation confirms the allegations of bullying made against him.
“The prime minister must commit now to sacking Dominic Raab if complaints about his bullying are upheld. Anything less would make a mockery of his promise to bring back integrity,” the MP for North East Fife said in a statement.
“It’s only been four weeks, and already Rishi Sunak has repeatedly turned a blind eye to allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Conservative ministers.
“This can’t be yet another case of one rule for Conservative MPs and another rule for everyone else.
“Every day brings yet more sleaze and scandal, while families round the country pay the price for this endless Conservative chaos.”
The Liberal Democrats have also called on Mr Sunak to publish the report in full within 24 hours of receiving it.
The latest case of alleged bullying to put pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab’s request for an independent investigation into two formal complaints about his behaviour.
Raab said on Wednesday that he had received notification of two separate complaints, one from his previous tenure as foreign minister and one from his previous tenure as justice minister.
Some officials who worked for him describe him as a tough and demanding boss, while others have been quoted in local media as being rude, aggressive, and a bully. Raab has denied the charges.
“I have written to the prime minister to request an independent investigation into two formal complaints that have been made against me,” Raab said on Twitter. “I look forward to addressing these complaints.”
Raab said in a letter he attached to his tweet he had “never tolerated bullying”, and had always sought to empower teams working in his departments.
‘Integrity, professionalism and accountability’
The new allegations put more pressure on Sunak, who used his first speech as prime minister last month to say his government would demonstrate “integrity, professionalism and accountability”.
Sunak defended his deputy this week, saying he did not recognise allegations that Raab had bullied staff.
Also on Wednesday, Sunak said that an investigation requested by Raab was the correct course of action.
“I know that you will be keen to address the complaints made against you and agree that proceeding in this way is the right course of action,” Sunak told Raab in a letter.
“Integrity, professionalism and accountability are core values of this Government. It is right that these matters are investigated fully.”
A cabinet minister, Gavin Williamson, resigned from the government last week over allegations he had bullied colleagues, raising questions about Sunak’s judgement just weeks into the job.
