The Guardian Australia

The Observer view on the toxic workplace that is Westminste­r

- Observer editorial

‘A stark reminder of how bad things used to be” is how Laura Cox described parliament in her independen­t review of bullying and harassment in Westminste­r. She found evidence of a toxic working culture, with some MPs behaving in appalling ways to junior staff.

That was in 2018. Since then, an independen­t inquiry has found that John Bercow, who while Commons speaker had overall responsibi­lity for parliament­ary culture, was a “serial bully” and a liar. It concluded that his conduct towards staff was so appalling he would have been suspended from the Commons had he still been an MP. Alex Allan, the former independen­t adviser on ministeria­l standards, in 2020 found that the former home secretary Priti Patel had bullied civil servants. Allan later resigned when the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, defended her and asserted she had not broken the ministeria­l code.

Numerous allegation­s of bullying have surfaced this month in relation to Gavin Williamson: from the former chief whip – to whom he sent expletivel­aden messages – from a female parliament­ary colleague and from a civil servant who has accused him, among other things, of telling him to “slit his throat”. This weekend, it has emerged that senior civil servants at the Ministry of Justice were offered the opportunit­y to switch roles to avoid working with Dominic Raab after Rishi Sunak reappointe­d him as justice secretary. And evidence has been submitted to yet another parliament­ary bullying inquiry – the third in just five years – that highlights that in a survey of 600 staff, a quarter said they had experience­d or witnessed bullying.

Much has been written about why parliament appears so permissive to toxic behaviour by a minority of MPs. The Commons has been likened to 650 little fiefdoms, each with a small group of staff answerable to an MP, which makes staff reluctant to call out and report bad behaviour. The gossipy culture means they fear being tarred as “difficult” if they complain, making it hard for them to get jobs in the future. The culture of late-night working and socialisin­g can weaken the boundaries between profession­al and personal relationsh­ips.

MPs have tried to address this by establishi­ng an independen­t complaints and grievance process for staff who have experience­d bullying and harassment. But there is a critical factor that has not changed a bit in the years since Cox’s review. Culture is set by those with power at the top of a workplace. And there are far too many ministers and senior MPs who make excuses for unacceptab­le behaviour by their political allies.

Johnson appointed Chris Pincher chief whip despite being made aware of formal complaints that alleged he sexually harassed two men while he was a minister at the Foreign Office. Senior Conservati­ve MPs argued that there were “balancing requiremen­ts” that mitigated Patel’s bullying behaviour. Crispin Blunt MP defended former parliament­arian Imran Ahmad Khan after he was convicted of child sexual assault. Sunak had reportedly been made aware that there were serious allegation­s about Williamson’s conduct.

It is not just a Conservati­ve problem: the senior Labour MP Margaret Beckett in 2018 said in relation to Bercow’s bullying: “The constituti­onal future of this country… trumps bad behaviour.”

So long as some parliament­arians remain happy to turn their faces away from evidence of bullying and harassment, for reasons of political expedience, nothing will change. The House of Commons and Whitehall will continue to harbour behaviour that should never be tolerated in the modern workplace, with terrible consequenc­es for the people who work there.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publicatio­n, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk

There are far too many ministers and senior MPs who make excuses for unacceptab­le behaviour by their political allies

 ?? Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images ?? Multiple allegation­s of bullying have surfaced in relation to the former minister Gavin Williamson.
Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Multiple allegation­s of bullying have surfaced in relation to the former minister Gavin Williamson.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia