Dominic Raab’s ex-private secretaries to lodge formal complaints

Deputy PM Dominic Raab is facing fresh bullying complaints from senior civil servants across multiple government departments, BBC Newsnight has learned.

A number of Mr Raab's former private secretaries - senior officials who work most closely with ministers on a daily basis - are preparing to submit formal complaints, sources told the BBC.

Mr Raab requested an investigation into his own conduct towards staff in the wake of two earlier complaints.

He denies any allegations of bullying.

Mr Raab, who is also the justice secretary, maintains he has always acted with integrity and professionalism.

There is now a coordinated effort by former private secretaries of Mr Raab to ensure their allegations are heard as part of the investigation.

Private secretaries work in the private office of government ministers on the day-to-day running of the department, including managing the minister's diary and advising on policy matters.

Meanwhile, Newsnight has also been told that Mr Raab used his personal email account for government business at two separate departments - once as recently as 2021.

Officials issued multiple warnings to the deputy prime minister not to use his email in this way, a source said.

Mr Raab, however, believes that the way he has used private email does not amount to a breach of the ministerial code, which allows for it to be done in some circumstances.

Earlier, a friend of Mr Raab said he had used it on occasions to approve tweets and quotes related to government business.

On Thursday, Mr Raab said he had behaved legitimately and in line with guidance.

"I've always taken advice on the right means, particularly having been foreign secretary and dealing with a whole range of sensitive issues, I've always been very careful to protect the integrity of any communications I had," he said.

Asked if he had been warned by civil servants not to use his own phone for government business - he replied 'No'.

Suella Braverman resigned as home secretary last month in part after admitting a breach of the ministerial code involving use of her private email to share government documents.

Ms Braverman, who has since been reappointed to the role, said this should not be done "where it was not reasonably necessary".

The Liberal Democrats have called on Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, the head of the civil service, to investigate Newsnight's report about Mr Raab's use of his personal email.

The party's chief whip Wendy Chamberlain, said at a time when cyber attacks on the UK were being stepped up, the cabinet office needed to "determine immediately if overseas enemies could have seen national secrets sent by Dominic Raab".

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: "There must be no hint of a whitewash when it comes to the slew of serious allegations the Deputy Prime Minister now faces."

She called for the scope of the existing investigation to be "expanded to enable proactive investigation of Dominic Raab's behaviour during his time as a minister".

Responding to the latest bullying allegations, Dave Penman, chief executive of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, said: "This is an extraordinary set of circumstances. We've never come across a situation where so many civil servants appear to be raising complaints about a minister's conduct.

"So if they are serious allegations about his conduct, that the prime minister has seen, he has to make a decision - is it safe essentially for civil servants to continue to work with him? That's what any employer would do."

The government has appointed Adam Tolley KC to investigate two formal complaints made about Mr Raab's conduct.

Downing Street said Rishi Sunak still had full confidence in the deputy prime minister.

The prime minister's official spokesman declined to comment on whether the investigation would include the latest allegations, but rejected suggestions the result could be a whitewash given that Mr Sunak would make the final judgement on whether Mr Raab breached the ministerial code.

"The investigator looking into this is highly experienced and has a suitable background, and is being given access to whatever they need to conduct a thorough and swift investigation," he said.

But the email claims would not be covered, he added, because existing guidance allowed ministers "to use various forms of communication as long as they take heed of that guidance",

Former Chief Whip Wendy Morton, who was a junior minister at the Foreign Office when Mr Raab was foreign secretary, told the BBC's Politics Live: "Dominic had a unique style".

But she insisted she was "not aware of any complaints [about his behaviour] at all".

Mr Raab has said he will "thoroughly rebut and refute any claims made".