THE alleged bullying victims of Dominic Raab are going through an “unimaginable” ordeal, it was claimed today.
Dave Penman, the General Secretary of the First Division Association, said those who had raised complaints had not done so lightly.
In an exclusive interview with GB News, Mr Penman, also revealed the full details of the allegations the Deputy Prime Minister faced.
He said two dozen civil servants had come forward, and there were eight separate complaints, relating to three different government departments over a period of four years.
And he branded the system available to alleged victims as “completely dysfunctional”.
Mr Penman was asked by Gloria De Piero if he felt Mr Raab himself was the victim of a bullying and smear campaign, to which he said: “I don’t think you can say people who are accusing some of the most powerful people in the country are kind of reverse bullying. It’s really difficult to challenge that sort of behaviour. You cannot underestimate how difficult it has been for these individuals to challenge that.
“Can you imagine working in that department and having had the courage to raise a complaint against the Deputy Prime Minister of the country and still have to walk in the front door when he’s the Minister at that point in time? That cannot be easy for those individuals who are still working in the department. No one wants to be in this position. No one wants to have to have their name revealed to the Deputy Prime Minister as someone who’s complained against him.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to be one of those complainants working in a department where Dominic Raab is still the Secretary of State.
“It’s taken a lot for them to come forward. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s never easy to challenge that sort of behaviour and they’ve done that because of the absolutely devastating effect it had on them. Now that’s being investigated, and it’s right that the investigation concludes on the facts that people are bringing forward.”
Detailing the scale of the probe facing Mr Raab he said: “We’re talking about more than two dozen civil servants coming forward, eight separate complaints, three different government departments over a period of four years. So all of that has to be investigated. That doesn’t mean he’s guilty, but it suggests there’s something quite substantial here around his conduct. That’s why it’s really important that someone looks at all of this evidence.”
Mr Penman also responded to recent reports in the Financial Times claiming Mr Raab deals with policy papers submitted by civil servants, by grading them on a scale of 1 to 4.
Asked if this amounted to bullying he continued: “It depends, because I suspect what you’re getting at, and this is the difficulty just now, is that you’re getting a partial picture, you’re getting isolated instances taken out of context and saying is that one thing on its own.
“If there are 100 rules that make it essentially impossible for you to do your job properly, then that’s when you can see how those patterns of behaviour can potentially become bullying and controlling. Everyone knows the difference between a bully and a good manager who is demanding and expects high standards. They’re very different things.”
He continued: “Different people react to behaviours in different ways. It also depends on the nature of your relationship with an individual.”
Outlining why he feels Mr Raab should have been suspended he said: “If this was any other workplace and Dominic Raab was any other employee, he would have been suspended. If any employer was faced with this level of accusations, the breadth of it, the scale of it, they would have taken their decision to suspend someone while they conduct an investigation. And he’s not. He’s still in post and the Prime Minister has refused to do that. So Dominic Raab has not been treated worse than other employees. He’s been treated better than any employee up and down the country would be treated.”
Explaining why he thinks the current process for reporting alleged bullying falls short he said: “It’s completely dysfunctional. If you want to raise a complaint against the Minister, there’s no rules, there’s no procedure you can go to. The process should be completely independent. So in Scotland, after what happened with the former First Minister, there were two separate inquiries as a result of that. We work with the Scottish Government and we have a fully independent process. You raise a complaint, it’s independently investigated, it’s independently determined so that you know that someone finds independent from the First Minister whether there’s guilt or innocence on that accusation, and it’s for the First Minister to decide punishment.
Mr Penman also said that he felt the Prime Minister could face tough questions over his handling of the affair.
He said: “He refused to answer the direct question of whether he was aware of bullying allegations against Dominic Raab when he appointed him. So five times he refused to answer that direct question, hiding behind the fact there had been no formal complaints. And when he appointed his ethics Advisor in December after this investigation was launched, he decided to keep the remit Boris Johnson had for his ethics advisor, which means he retains a veto with his investigation and only he determines the outcome. So yes, he said some positive things and he talked about integrity and accountability when he walked into Parliament, but will be judged by his actions on this and up until now there are questions about the choices and actions that he’s taken.”
THE FULL INTERVIEW IS BROADCAST ON SUNDAY AT 6PM ON GLORIA MEETS ON GB NEWS
