Bullies never accept that they have done anything wrong. They say other people are too sensitive. They claim they’re just being a ‘demanding’ boss and expecting ‘high standards’. Or, as Dominic Raab has put it, they claim that other people have set the threshold for bullying too low.
But bullying is the scourge of every workplace. It takes many forms. You don’t have to throw things or shout to be a bully. Some bullies are just endlessly snide to those who work for them, or they pick on one member of the team and isolate them. Some keep everyone on tenterhooks by praising them in public and slagging them off in private. The end result is everyone feels they are walking on eggshells. As far as I can see, Raab thinks that’s the way to run a department.
I couldn’t disagree more. Crushed, fearful, anxious staff will never give of their best.
It’s no secret. Westminster has a bullying problem. Politics is based on power structures and staff are often terrified to complain. Some MPs have a very high turnover of staff. Many have never employed anyone before they arrive in Parliament. Yet – despite many years of demanding it – there is scarcely any training available on how to be a good employer.
Raab’s resignation letter was about as grudging and ungracious as possible. No apology, no understanding of what those who complained have gone through. Just a whinge, as if he’s been the victim all along – which is always the bully’s version of events.
But it also exposes something much more important. The whole system is bust. The rules for ministers are weaker than for ordinary MPs. They aren’t enforced by a truly independent figure, because the only person who decides whether a minister stays or goes is the prime minister. If Raab had behaved towards staff in the Commons as he did towards civil servants, he could have faced much more severe sanctions. The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme could have led to him being suspended from the House and facing a by-election.
Yet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to keep the system as it is, which shows a worrying weakness. It feels as if Sunak has learnt nothing from the Johnson fiasco. He pretends he wants to run a professional, ethical government. But in truth his appointment of Raab, his determination to keep him so long and his refusal to sack him shows that we still have a problem.
