UK: Deputy Prime Minister resigns over harassment allegations

British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this Friday, April 21, after an investigation established the facts of harassment. He is the third minister to quit the UK government after various allegations.

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced his resignation on Friday after an independent report found he had morally harassed civil servants. A setback for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was a close ally of his.

“I am writing to you to resign from your government,” writes Justice Minister Dominic Raab in a letter to Rishi Sunak. “I had asked for this investigation and promised to resign if proven, regardless of the facts of the harassment. I believe it is important to keep my word,” he wrote.

The inquiry was launched following eight complaints about her conduct when she was foreign secretary, Brexit minister or during previous visits to the Ministry of Justice.

Dominic Raab has always denied the allegations, which have poisoned the government for months and drawn much criticism from the opposition.

The report, which was submitted to the Prime Minister on Thursday and has not yet been made public, “dismisses all but two complaints”, the minister notes in his letter, and continues to rule as “false”.

The inquiry’s findings “set a dangerous precedent for government behavior,” he further defends.

Back on Thursday, Downing Street expressed “total confidence” in its deputy prime minister, while saying it would “read the conclusions of the report carefully”.

He is the third minister to leave Rishi Sunak’s government after various allegations, adding a new task to the prime minister’s pledge to show ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability’ in office after scandals under Boris Johnson.

In November, Gavin Williamson, a minister without portfolio in Rishi Sunak’s government, resigned after allegations of harassment.

In January, Rishi Sunak had to fire Conservative Party leader Nadim Zahavi, who sat in the cabinet in this position, over tax disputes.