THE MOST APATHETIC and AROGANT MINISTER IN A GOVERNMENT THAT DOES NOT CARE
TODAY IS THE DAY that after 5-months of investigation Report about Dominic Raab behaviour should be handed over to PM Rishi Sunak for his consideration whether or not to sack him because of the bridge of the Ministerial Codes.
Learning about Tori policy when its come to "close friends and supporters" like Dominic and Rishi are will be highly unlikely to see this happening. Why I am so sceptic about this?
Recall Priti Patel who as Home Secretary bridge the code and PM at the time Boris Johnson did not sack her. Same has happened with present Home Secretary Suella Braverman who was in the bridge of the code as well and jet again nothing happened. Did PM Rishi Sunak sack Suella Braverman? NO!
No lessons being learned in the Tori camp!
Do not forget about Dominic when he was Brexit minister and if you ever wanted proof of how apathetic a man can be, and still find "success" in the workplace, I would point you as few others towards Dominic Raab, except he's resigned over the very deal he was tasked with negotiating.
The former Brexit minister, with the smooth face and RP accent of a supporting character in a Richard Curtis movie, seems to exist purely to make us all despair further about the already ludicrous world of Brexit.
Exhibit 1: On 7th November 2018 Dominic Raab admitted that he “hadn’t quite understood the full extent” to which Britain is reliant on the Dover-Calais crossing for frictionless trade.
Exhibit 2: In 2016, Dominic Raab – an avid Brexiteer – said he was “jarred” by the news that leaving the customs union might require additional red tape. Do not forget, this man was a prominent voice in the Leave campaign!
Exhibit 3: BuzzFeed reported in November 2018, Dominic Raab – whose job is to secure a Brexit deal – was revealed to be part of a group of MPs arguing that NO DEAL was better than the EU’s proposed offer.
How have we got to this position? Well, it’s because the Conservative party is in the thrall of a two-pronged crisis:
- Too many politicians are revealed to be fundamentally unsuited for office and have to resign.
- We’re running out of people with any kind of competence to switch into the roles in their stead.
Point 1 is well documented at this stage:
Theresa May has lost twice the number of ministers compared to any of her predecessors. And every time, new people must be found to fill the gaps.
Point 2 has become clearer and clearer with each passing week.
In recent weeks, months and years you may have seen immigration minister Caroline Nokes’ nightmarish select committee appearance, in which she (incorrectly) said businesses would be responsible for distinguishing whether EU workers had arrived before or after Brexit if we crashed out without a deal. The same philosophy was carried further all her successors including present James Cleverly.
Maybe you noticed Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley at the time admit she didn’t realise the nation’s nationalists did not vote for unionist parties in elections during an interview with The House magazine.
Where we are standing today on 20th April 2023?
The fact will be - Dominic Raab ‘bullying’ report imminent as civil servants ‘could quit’ if he is cleared!
Senior officials at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are preparing to quit if the PM chooses to keep Mr Raab in government because it would be “demoralising” for staff, according to The Guardian.
“If he stays in the department, senior people will want to walk,” one official told the newspaper, 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.
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.
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.
The deputy PM and justice secretary denies allegations. He has insisted he believes “heart and soul” that he is not a bully while defending his “forthright” approach to his work.
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.
The Tolley report is not expected to offer a verdict and will leave Mr Sunak to assess whether Mr Raab’s behaviour amounts to bullying and merits punishment. But Mr Raab has said he will resign if a bullying claim is upheld.
It emerged earlier on Wednesday that the minister had forked out for his own legal team to defend himself against the allegations.
The declaration in the heavily delayed register of ministerial interests 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.
In the register, Mr Raab’s entry notes read: “The minister has engaged lawyers at his own expense in relation to the investigation being conducted by Adam Tolley KC.”
It remains unclear why he paid for his own lawyers when Mr Johnson – whose outside earnings since leaving office have made him the highest-paid MP over the past 12 months –received government support.
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 yesterday 19th April 2023 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.”
He added: “Whatever the outcome is, and we’re going to find out tomorrow, I actually think there’s a fundamental rethink required about how we deal with these sorts of allegations, both in government made against ministers and made against members of parliament.”
Do not expect miracles to happen now. Will happen only if Rishi would like to exercise to public how serious is with his pledge about accountabilities!
Time to go!
