He rejected allegations of an overbearing manner with colleagues, insisting that ministers “must be able to exercise direct oversight with respect to senior officials over critical negotiations conducted on behalf of the British people”.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not to do so, he said, would mean the loss of “the democratic and constitutional principle of ministerial responsibility”.<\/p>\n

He also maintained ministers “must be able to give direct critical feedback on briefings and submissions to senior officials in order to set the standards and drive the reform the public expect of us”.<\/p>\n

“Of course this must be done within reasonable bounds,” he went on.<\/p>\n

Tolley said there was “no persuasive evidence” that Raab shouted at civil servants or swore, and there was “no sound basis” he was vindictive or used physical gestures in a threatening way.<\/p>\n

No one told Raab — who described himself as “demanding, driven and focused on detail” — that his communications with civil servants at the three ministries could amount to bullying, he said.<\/p>\n

But Tolley said he could have realised it was a possible issue, as senior officials raised his management style with him.<\/p>\n

Raab said he was “genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt”.<\/p>\n

But he maintained the public had a high expectation of ministers working on their behalf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dominic Raab announced he was stepping down on Friday as UK deputy prime minister after being faulted in a workplace bullying inquiry, dealing a fresh blow to the beleaguered Conservatives. The resignation presents a headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who had pledged a fresh start after his predecessors’ turbulent tenures, some two weeks before local elections at which the Tories are expected to lose seats. Sunak is also battling to claw back a chasm of lost ground to the main opposition Labour party before a general election next year. Raab, who stood in for former prime minister Boris Johnson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[544,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-yeswecantv-news","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\n