Angela Rayner today channeled Donald Trump and demanded the Tories "drain the swamp" in a furious clash with bullying accused Dominic Raab.
Facing off with the Deputy PM at PMQs, Labour's deputy leader blasted Rishi Sunak for authorising an investigation into Mr Raab "from a watchdog he hasn’t even appointed”.
Blasting Mr Raab to his face she added: "The Deputy PM knows his behaviour is unacceptable so what is he still doing here?"
It comes after the Deputy Prime Minister bowed to pressure and asked for a full investigation into bullying claims against himself - after two formal complaints were made over his conduct.
His boss Rishi Sunak authorised an independent probe “as soon as possible”. Yet it later emerged he will hand-pick the investigator, who will not be the independent advisor on ministerial interests.
That leaves the prospect that he will stay in his job for months while the investigation is under way.
Mr Raab said “I will thoroughly rebut and refute any of the claims that have been made", and said of a claim he angrily threw tomatoes from a Pret salad: "That never happened".
But Ms Rayner said he was suggesting “civil servants are liars” - claiming the Tories had “no ethics, no integrity and no mandate - and still no ethics advisor”.
She said: "His letter contains no hint of admission or apology. This is Anti-Bullying Week. Will he apologise?"
Using the phrase often used by the former US President, she went on: “When will they appoint a new independent ethics advisor and drain the swamp?"
Mr Raab refused her call to apologise and accused her of the “usual mix of bluster and mudslinging”.
The Deputy PM said "I take it as an article of personal faith that we behave with absolute integrity and accountability", and "I am confident I have behaved professionally throughout" but will engage "thoroughly" and "transparently".
He added “I received notification this morning” of the two complaints.
But he refused to answer the thrust of one MP's question - whether he could stay in his job if a bullying complaint is upheld against him.
He also squirmed as he was asked if he had ever entered a non-disclosure agreement in a previous workplace dispute.
Asked by Labour MP Bambos Charalambous whether he had ever entered into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), Mr Raab said: "He refers to an employment dispute that was settled before I entered the house. It wasn't an NDA but it did include a confidentiality clause, which was standard at the time."
Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed the people currently accusing Mr Raab “have a record of bullying second to none” after the Labour anti-Semitism row.
It comes after Civil Service World reported a former Justice official said Mr Raab had created a "culture of fear" and had a habit of "intimidating and belittling civil servants".
And The Guardian reported a civil servant will join Mr Raab in the room during meetings.
The former head of the Foreign Office, Lord McDonald, yesterday claimed staff were “scared” to go into Mr Raab's office and he was “abrasive and controlling".
"It was language, it was tone," the peer told Times Radio. “He would be very curt with people. And he did this in front of a lot of other people. I think people felt demeaned.”
Lord McDonald confirmed reports he raised Mr Raab’s behaviour with him, telling Times Radio: “I tried to have that conversation with him."
Earlier Rishi Sunak stood by Mr Raab, saying he didn’t “recognise the characterisation” of his deputy as a bully.
The PM - whose Cabinet Office minister Gavin Williamson resigned over bullying claims just a week ago - told reporters on the way to the G20 in Bali: “I'm not aware of any formal complaints about him.”
Yet Downing Street refused to say if an “expression of concern” - a step before a complaint - was raised about Mr Raab, as has been reported.
After reports workers were offered a “route out” when Mr Raab returned to Cabinet, the Mirror revealed he has been nicknamed “The Incinerator” as he “burns through” staff so quickly.
Bloomberg reported Simon Case, Britain’s top civil servant, was told by senior officials of concerns about Mr Raab’s behaviour and privately tried to improve it.
In the PMQs clash Ms Rayner also said the UK was 38th out of 38 OECD developed countries for growth.
"If there was a World Cup for growth we wouldn't even qualify," she claimed. "Working people are paying the price for 12 years of Tory failure. The wrong choices by the wrong people."
