‘Don’t cross the line of robust debate’
THE Prime Minister has appointed employment lawyer Adam Tolley KC to investigate claims that Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab bullied staff members in his office.
This follows hard on the heels of the resignation of Cabinet Office Minister Gavin Williamson over claims that he sent bullying messages to staff during an earlier stint as Chief Whip.
Politics has always been a business that the fainthearted have been best advised to avoid.
Anyone who has ever gone canvassing at election time will have encountered forthright views expressed in language that would make a guardsman blush.
The same is true in the
House of Commons, which respects neither ego nor status with Cabinet members and even prime ministers falling foul of its wicked sense of humour.
This is all as it should be. Free speech should be direct, if wherever possible at least civil, and not putting our leaders on a pedestal is something that strengthens
our democracy. There is, though, a clear line between robust debate and firm leadership, and bullying.
The alleged actions of Raab and Williamson suggest a culture in the Conservative Party and Westminster that is deeply flawed.
This is an impression that is only confirmed by the weekly shouting match that is Prime Minister’s Question Time.
The proposed investigation does not, I fear, come close to addressing this, like the one into lockdown parties at Downing Street, it could very well disappear into the ether without the public ever seeing any report it may have produced.
Westminster is a workplace like any other and a such bullying is unacceptable regardless of the status of the person responsible.
If the allegations against him are proven, then Mr Raab should be sacked rather than be allowed to resign with the possibility of one day returning to the top table.
He should also lose the Tory whip and be obliged to stand down at the next election.
PENKHULL