New political storm in the UK? On Friday April 21, British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced his resignation. And this, after the realization of a report establishing facts of moral harassment exercised by the politician on civil servants. A close ally of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, this departure is a setback for the tenant of 10 Downing Street.
“I am writing to resign from your government,” said Dominic Raab, also Minister of Justice, in this letter to Rishi Sunak. “I had requested this investigation and had pledged to resign if it established any facts of harassment. I believe it is important to keep my word,” he wrote.
My resignation statement.?? pic.twitter.com/DLjBfChlFq
This investigation had been launched following eight complaints concerning his behavior when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Brexit or during a previous visit to the Ministry of Justice. Dominic Raab has always denied these accusations, which have poisoned the government for months and raised numerous criticisms from the opposition.
This report, submitted to the Prime Minister on Thursday and not yet made public, “dismissed all complaints, except two”, specifies the minister in his letter, continuing to judge them “false”. The findings of the investigation “set a dangerous precedent for government conduct,” he said.
Again on Thursday, Downing Street displayed its “total confidence” in its Deputy Prime Minister, while claiming to “study carefully the conclusions of the report”.
He is the third minister to quit Rishi Sunak’s government after various accusations, adding a further stain on the prime minister’s promise to show “integrity, professionalism and accountability” in office after the succession of scandals under Boris Johnson. In November, Gavin Williamson, a minister without portfolio in Rishi Sunak’s government, resigned after accusations of harassment. And in January, Rishi Sunak had to dismiss the president of the Conservative Party Nadhim Zahawi, who sat as such in the council of ministers, for tax disputes.