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Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, chose the wrong day to give his health speech if he was hoping for much coverage. According to PA Media, in his speech Streeting said Labour would deliver the NHS care that patients want. PA says:

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In a speech to the King’s Fund in central London, Wes Streeting reiterated Labour’s pledges on the NHS, saying the party would train 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses every year, including recruiting more medics from within the UK.

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Streeting said he would boost the range of health professionals working alongside GPs to ease pressure on primary care, including more use of pharmacists to give things such as vaccinations, wider use of nurses within practices and, for example, allowing opticians to refer people directly to eye specialists.

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He said patients often felt that there is “rationing going on and that the objective of the person on the other end of the phone in the [GP] reception”, and in other parts of the NHS, was to do what they could to ensure the patient could not be seen.

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He said he did not think that was quite right, but that was how it felt to patients.

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In the Q&A, Streeting also said he thought it would take Labour a decade to return the NHS to the state it was in when Labour left office. He said:

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This far out from a general election, we want to make sure that we’ve got a plan that is both ambitious but also achievable. We’re not going to make promises we can’t keep.

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But I want to see serious progress by the end of the first term of a Labour government because I want people to elect a second term of a Labour government and I do think that the public is smart enough to know that we’re not going to be able to fix everything overnight.

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It will take, I think, a decade to get the NHS back to where it was under the last Labour government.

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But we want to show real progress within the first term of a Labour government and we’re looking at what we could do as quickly as possible to deliver immediate results for patients.

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says it will take Labour 10 years to restore NHS to state it was in when Tories took power”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Fri 21 Apr 2023 11.31 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Fri 21 Apr 2023 04.06 EDT”},{“id”:”64428a348f08155e59b75faf”,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Three ministers have been promoted as a result of the reshuffle announced as a result of Dominic Raab’s departure, and three MPs are joining the government.

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The promotion are:

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Oliver Dowden becomes deputy prime minister, which he will combine with his current job, as a Cabinet Office minister and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster.

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Alex Chalk moves from being a defence minister to justice secretary.

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And James Cartlidge moves from being a junior Treasury minister to replacing Chalk as a minister of state at the Ministry of Defence.

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One MP is joining the government for the first time: Gareth Davies will replace Cartlidge as exchequer secretary to the Treasury.

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And two former cabinet ministers are coming back to provide maternity cover. Chloe Smith, a former work and pensions secretary, will cover for Michelle Donelan as science and innovation secretary. And John Whittingdale, a former culture secretary, will cover for Julia Lopez, a culture minister.

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Here is the full list of appointments from No 10.

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Chloe Smith, who was briefly work and pensions secretary under Liz Truss, has been recalled to cabinet to cover for Michelle Donelan as science and innovation secretary while Donelan is on maternity leave.

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Oliver Dowden has been appointed deputy prime minister, Downing Street has announced.

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Alex Chalk will be the new justice secretary, my colleague Pippa Crerar reports. Chalk is currently a defence minister, but has previously been solicitor general and a justice minister

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NEW: Alex Chalk to be new Justice Secretary

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) April 21, 2023

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The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Rishi Sunak has not said explicitly that Dominic Raab was guilty of bullying, or that he broke the ministerial code, and at the briefing the PM’s spokesperson avoided putting it that bluntly. But he made it clear that that is what Sunak thinks.

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Here are some of the main points from the briefing.

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• Sunak thinks Raab broke the ministerial code, the PM’s spokesperson suggested. The spokesperson said:

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You can see the aspects relevant to the code are set out in the report. I think those speak for themselves.

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The prime minister thinks it’s right that any findings whatsoever that are deemed to be bullying, it’s right to resign. That’s the commitment the former secretary of state made and he’s upheld that commitment.

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The ministerial code says: “Harassing, bullying or other inappropriate or discriminating behaviour wherever it takes place is not consistent with the ministerial code and will not be tolerated.”

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• Sunak spoke to Raab this morning by phone, the spokesperson said. He did not go into details of the call. Yesterday, after getting the report, Sunak spoke to Adam Tolley, its author, and Sir Laurie Magnus, his ethics adviser. Sunak had not seen a draft of the report before the final version arrived yesterday.

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• Sunak will not be setting up a general inquiry into ministerial bullying, as proposed by the FDA union (see 10.54am), the spokesperson said. He also said he was not aware of any plans to have an inquiry into leaks that happened as the investigation was taking place, as Raab called for in his resignation letter (see 9.57am).

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• The spokesperson said that when Sunak said, in his letter to Raab, that he wanted the government to learn from this “how to better handle such matters in future”, the PM meant that he wanted to ensure there was a better process for ensuring that concerns about how ministers deal with staff are addressed in a timely manner.

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In his Telegraph article Dominic Raab seemed to question the motives of some of the officials who complained about him. (See 12.43pm.)

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But in his report Adam Tolley said the Ministry of Justice officials who submitted a joint complaint about Raab were “sincere and committed civil servants” who had “no ulterior agenda”. He said:

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The significance of the MoJ group complaint is that it led to the making of all of the other complaints. The participants in the MoJ group complaint deserve credit for their courage in coming forward. It cannot have been easy for them to do so and their motivation was to stand up for more senior colleagues whose experiences they had observed at one remove. Having interviewed almost all of the individuals closely involved, I find that they are sincere and committed civil servants, with no ulterior agenda.

\n

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In his Telegraph article Dominic Raab suggests he was the victim of a plot to remove him from office. He is more explicit than in his resignation letter, where he only hinted at this. (See 10.41am.)

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He says the complaints against him were “stored up”, and then submitted “in a coordinated way”.

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He says he was “subject to trial by media for six months, fuelled by warped and fabricated accounts leaked by anonymous officials breaching the rules of the inquiry, the civil service code of conduct, or both”.

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He says he was warned by a cabinet secretary, and by a director of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office “that unionised officials were targeting me and other ministers”.

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And he says many of the complaints against him were not substantiated by Adam Tolley, and that in relation to three of the complainants, “there was no record of them ever having been in any meeting with me”.

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In his article Raab concludes:

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This precedent sets the playbook for a small number of officials to target ministers, who negotiate robustly on behalf of the country, pursue bold reforms and persevere in holding civil servants to account. If that is now the threshold for bullying in government, it is the people of this country who will pay the price.

\n

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In his report Adam Tolley is also particularly critical of how Dominic Raab dealt with staff at the Ministry of Justice. Tolley says:

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On a number of occasions at meetings with policy officials, the DPM acted in a manner which was intimidating, in the sense of going further than was necessary or appropriate in delivering critical feedback, and also insulting, in the sense of making unconstructive critical comments about the quality of work done (whether or not as a matter of substance any criticism was justified). By way of example, he complained about the absence of what he referred to as ‘basic information’ or ‘the basics’, about ‘obstructiveness’ on the part of officials whom he perceived to be resistant to his policies, and described some work as ‘utterly useless’ and ‘woeful’.

\n

The DPM did not intend by the conduct described to upset or humiliate. Nor did he target anyone for a specific type of treatment.

\n

His interruptive style is not itself behaviour that could be regarded as intimidating or insulting. However, individuals who had previously experienced the DPM express an unconstructive criticism of their work (and understood it as a criticism of them personally) might reasonably have interpreted a series of interruptions as a form of implicit criticism. The combination of unconstructive critical feedback and regular interruption is likely to be experienced as intimidating, in the sense of being unreasonably difficult to deal with, and plainly was so experienced by some individuals.

\n

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And this is Raab’s response to this criticism, in his Telegraph article.

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The second adverse finding was at the MoJ. The inquiry gave three instances since September 2021, where my feedback to senior civil servants was overly critical, which – however justified – left those concerned feeling insulted. In one example, Mr Tolley concluded I had on occasion said that work lacked ‘basic information’ – no specific dates were given, nor who was offended. In one meeting, he found I had said the department was being ‘obstructive’ on human rights reform, offending one complainant. In the third instance, he concluded – which I deny – that I had said a submission on parole reform was ‘utterly useless’ and ‘woeful’, offending one complainant.

\n

He accepted that I had not personalised my criticism, nor intended to upset anyone, and was unaware of the offence caused. That was never my intention, and I am genuinely sorry if my actions had that effect on anyone. The inquiry concluded that I had not been notified of any particular conduct, before formal complaints were submitted, nor had anyone suggested my behaviour could amount to bullying.

\n

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The most damning comments in the Tolley report seem to be those on page 45, where Adam Tolley refers to two complaints about Dominic Raab when he was foreign secretary. Tolley says:

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In reaching and implementing [a] management choice [the report does not say what this ‘management choice’ was] he acted in a way which was intimidating, in the sense of unreasonably and persistently aggressive conduct in the context of a work meeting. It also involved an abuse or misuse of power in a way that undermines or humiliates. He introduced an unwarranted punitive element. His conduct was experienced as undermining or humiliating by the affected individual, which was inevitable. It is to be inferred that the DPM was aware that this would be the effect of his conduct; at the very least, he should have been aware.

\n

On a separate occasion, the DPM referred to the civil service code in a way which could reasonably have been understood as suggesting that those involved had acted in breach. This had a significant adverse effect on a particular individual who took it seriously. The DPM’s conduct was a form of intimidating behaviour, in the sense of conveying a threat of unspecified disciplinary action, and was experienced as such. He did not target any individual, nor intend to threaten anyone with disciplinary action. However, he ought to have realised that his reference to the civil service code could well have been understood as a threat.

\n

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Downing Street has just published the Adam Tolley report into the Dominic Raab bullying allegations. It’s here.

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Adam Tolley KC’s investigation into Dominic Raab found he acted in an “intimidating” fashion with “unreasonably and persistently aggressive conduct” in a work meeting while he was foreign secretary, PA Media reports.

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Downing Street has now released the text of Rishi Sunak’s reply to Dominic Raab’s resignation letter. Sunak says Raab was right to quit.

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Here is an extract.

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When formal complaints about your conduct in different ministerial posts were submitted last year, I appointed at your request an independent investigator to conduct a full investigation into the specific facts surrounding these complaints. Adam Tolley KC has now submitted his report and I have carefully considered its findings, as well as consulting the independent adviser on ministers’ interests.

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As you say, you had – rightly – undertaken to resign if the report made any finding of bullying whatsoever. You have kept your word. But it is clear that there have been shortcomings in the historic process that have negatively affected everyone involved. We should learn from this how to better handle such matters in future.

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But your resignation should not make us forget your record of delivery in both this government and previous administrations. These achievements should make you extremely proud.

\n

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Dominic Raab has escalated his attack on how the inquiry into his conduct was conducted. In an article for the Daily Telegraph, which has just been published on its website, he says the process was “Kafkaesque”.

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Here is an extract.

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In reality, the Kafkaesque saga I endured was shorn of the safeguards most people enjoy.

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Normal rules of evidence and procedural fairness were disapplied. For example, there is a three-month time limit for bringing bullying claims in an employment tribunal, while standard internal human resources practice is to avoid unreasonable delay, because late claims are unfair and unreliable. In my case, all the complaints were stored up for over three months, most over eight months, some for over four years – and then submitted in a coordinated way.

\n

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If Dominic Raab had remained in office, Labour would have said Rishi Sunak’s failure to sack him was a sign of weakness. Raab has quit, but Labour is accusing Sunak of weakness anyway – on the grounds that Raab should not have been given the job in the first place.

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On a visit to Middlesbrough, Keir Starmer said:

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What I think this shows is the continual weakness of the prime minister.

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Because there’s a double weakness here. He should never have appointed him in the first place, along with other members of the cabinet that shouldn’t have been appointed, and then he didn’t sack him.

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Even today, it’s Raab who resigned rather than the prime minister who acts.

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Starmer also accused Raab of “whining”. He said:

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I don’t know why Dominic Raab, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, thinks that anybody wants to hear about his whining about having to resign.

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What I think everybody wants is strong leadership and that has been palpably absent here.

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The FDA, the union representing senior civil servants, has called for a general inquiry into the bullying of officials by ministers. In a statement Dave Penman, the FDA’s general secretary, said:

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As Dominic Raab’s resignation letter makes clear, he was guilty of bullying civil servants and, therefore, had breached the ministerial code. His obviously reluctant tone and dismissal of the complaints says more about his conduct than any findings will. This resignation is not a vindication of the current system, it’s a damning indictment of the inadequacy of a process that relies solely on the prime minister of the day to enforce standards …

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Bullying blights people’s lives and careers. It also gets in the way of government working effectively and efficiently. This investigation must be the seminal moment when the prime minister recognises that he has a duty to protect civil servants from the misconduct of ministers, and that the current system is neither fit for purpose nor commands the confidence of the very people it is supposed to protect. A recent FDA survey showed that 70% of senior civil servants had no confidence in the system for dealing with complaints.

Given the scale of complaints against Dominic Raab and the evidence we have produced of a wider problem, the prime minister must now launch an independent inquiry into ministerial bullying, along the lines of the inquiry conducted by Dame Laura Cox KC commissioned under similar circumstances in parliament.

\n

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There is quite a contrast between the overnight briefing on behalf of Dominic Raab (see 9.06am and 9.24am). That could be explained by his allies talking complete rubbish to journalists. But a much more likely explanation is that last night Raab thought he could stay in office, but that by this morning – presumably after direct, or indirect, contact with Rishi Sunak – he realised that if he did not resign, he was going to sacked.

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This is not so much a resignation letter as a “resignation” letter. It reads as if it was written by someone pushed out.

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Here are seven things we’ve learned from it.

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1) Raab claims that his departure sets a “dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government” because it will make it too easy for ministers to be removed. This echoes what MPs like Jacob Rees-Mogg have said about civil servants being too “snowflakey”. Raab does not explicitly say that he was the victim of a politically motivated witchhunt, but these comments – and his complaint about a diplomat ignoring the wishes of cabinet – suggest that he does see himself in this light. He is implicitly casting himself as a victim.

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2) He reveals that two of the complaints against him were upheld. But he says the inquiry has dismissed “all but two” of the complaints against him. Without having seen the full report, it is hard to know what the significance of this.

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3) He reveals that the inquiry did not conclude that Raab intentionally bullied his staff. Summarsing its findings, he says:

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\n

Mr Tolley concluded that I had not once, in four and a half years, sworn or shouted at anyone, let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimidated anyone, nor intentionally sought to belittle anyone.

\n

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But in the past the No 10 ethics adviser has taken the view that bullying does not have to be intentional to be in breach of the ministerial code. This is what the Priti Patel inquiry concluded. Boris Johnson essentially ignored that report, and allowed Patel to remain in office as home secretary. Today’s outcome suggests Sunak was not willing to follow that precedent

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4) But Raab claims this definition of bullying means that is now too easy for a minister to be forced out. He says:

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In setting the threshold for bullying so low, this inquiry has set a dangerous precedent. It will encourage spurious complaints against Ministers, and have a chilling effect on those driving changen on behalf of your government – and ultimately the British people.

\n

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You could dismiss this as Raab arguing that the rules are now unfair to bullies.

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5) He is not apologetic. The letter includes a line saying:

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I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice.

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This does not go beyond what he has already said. Reading the full report has not made him feel any more contrite. (If anything, the opposite – there is a tone of resentment and anger running through the whole letter.)

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6) Raab thinks the inquiry process was unfair, because of the extent of leaking against him.

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7) He says he is resigning because he promised to resign if the inquiry “made any finding of bullying whatsoever”. This can be read a testament to the journalists who pressed Raab on this point in interviews while the inquiry was going on. (Sky’s Sophy Ridge was one, but others asked about this too.) Ministers normally dodge questions like this, saying they are hypothetical, but Raab was pushing into making a firm commitment, and that seems to have been a factor in his resignation.

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The Liberal Democrats say Dominic Raab should now resign as an MP. This is from Daisy Cooper, the party’s deputy leader.

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Dominic Raab has shown he is not only unfit to serve as a minister, but is totally unfit to represent his constituents in parliament. He should resign as an MP and trigger a byelection so the people of Esher and Walton can finally have the MP they deserve.

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Voters across Surrey and the blue w are fed up with this endless Conservative chaos and MPs who take their communities for granted. At the next election in Esher and Walton, it will be a two horse race between more Conservative party chaos or a hardworking Liberal Democrat MP who will listen and stand up for local people.

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Esher and Walton, Raab’s constituency, is now one of the Lib Dems’ main target seats.

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But there is almost no chance of Raab resigning. And he won’t be forced out by a recall petition because that can only happen as a response to inquiries into parliamentary conduct. Raab is resigning because of an inquiry into what he did as a minister.

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Here is the full text of Dominic Raab’s resignation letter.

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Dear Prime Minister,

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I am writing to resign from your government, following receipt of the report arising from the inquiry conducted by Adam Tolley KC. I called for the inquiry and undertook to resign, if it made any finding of bullying whatsoever. I believe it is important to keep my word.

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It has been a privilege to serve you as Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work as a Minister in a range of roles and departments since 2015, and pay tribute to the many outstanding civil servants with whom I have worked.

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Whilst I feel duty bound to accept the outcome of the inquiry, it dismissed all but two of the claims levelled against me. I also believe that its two adverse findings are flawed and set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government. First, Ministers must be able to exercise direct oversight with respect to senior officials over critical negotiations conducted on behalf of the British people, otherwise the democratic and constitutional principle of Ministerial responsibility will be lost. This was particularly true during my time as Foreign Secretary, in the context of the Brexit negotiations over Gibraltar, when a senior diplomat breached the mandate agreed by Cabinet.

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Second, Ministers must be able to give direct critical feedback on briefings and submissions to senior officials, in order to set the standards and drive the reform the public expect of us. Of course, this must be done within reasonable bounds. Mr Tolley concluded that I had not once, in four and a half years, sworn or shouted at anyone, let alone thrown anything or otherwise physically intimidated anyone, nor intentionally sought to belittle anyone. I am genuinely sorry for any unintended stress or offence that any officials felt, as a result of the pace, standards and challenge that I brought to the Ministry of Justice. That is, however, what the public expect of Ministers working on their behalf

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In setting the threshold for bullying so low, this inquiry has set a dangerous precedent. It will encourage spurious complaints against Ministers, and have a chilling effect on those driving changen on behalf of your government – and ultimately the British people.

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Finally, I raised with you a number of improprieties that came to light during the course of this inquiry. They include the systematic leaking of skewed and fabricated claims to the media in breach of the rules of the inquiry and the Civil Service Code of Conduct, and the coercive removal by a senior official of dedicated Private Secretaries from my Ministry of Justice Private Office, in October of last year. I hope these will be independently reviewed.

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I remain as supportive of you and this government, as when I first introduced you at your campaign leadership launch last July. You have proved a great Prime Minister in very challenging times, and you can count on my support from the backbenches.

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Dominic Raab has resigned.

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My resignation statement.👇 pic.twitter.com/DLjBfChlFq

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) April 21, 2023

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Rishi Sunak is right to delay the decision on the fate of Dominic Raab, Mark Harper, the transport secretary, has said. Kiran Stacey has the story.

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Good morning. If Rishi Sunak was hoping that Dominic Raab would quit voluntarily after reading the Adam Tolley report into the allegations that he repeatedly bullied his officials, he will have been disappointed. As Aubrey Allegretti and Pippa Crerar report in our splash, Raab has read the report and concluded that he does not have to go. They report:

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According to one Ministry of Justice source, Raab was battling to stay in post, believing the findings – which he has read – do not mean he should have to resign. By Thursday evening, however, he and Sunak had yet to hold any direct discussions.

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Friday’s @guardian front page: Raab fights for political life https://t.co/m6u2tk6z6B pic.twitter.com/NrKPgmQX1l

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) April 20, 2023

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Other papers have had the same briefing.

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Friday’s Daily TELEGRAPH: “Raab will ‘fight to the death’ to keep job” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/imchrhZNBV

— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) April 20, 2023

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Friday’s TIMES: “Raab stands firm as PM mulls report on bullying” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/CQVKPSwvPn

— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) April 20, 2023

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So Sunak has a choice; he can either sack Raab, or let him stay in government. There are variations on each option – dismissal could be tempered by a promise to bring Raab back; remaining in office could come with sanctions, such as an apology, or attending an anger management course. But the people who complained about Raab want him out, and so essentially the choice is binary.

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Sacking Raab would make Sunak look firm and authoritative. But it would alarm Tory MPs who don’t want government personnel decisions decided by what they see as “snowflake” civil servants, and the media; it would revive questions as to what Raab was appointed in the first place; and it would be a harsh way to repay someone who was one of Sunak strongest supporters in the leadership contest last summer.

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Letting Raab stay would avoid all these problems, do more for party unity, and signal to Tories Sunak’s determination not to cave into pressure from opponents in parliament, Whitehall and the media. But it would make Sunak look like Boris Johnson (who ignored a report saying Priti Patel was a bully), and it would leave Sunak’s promise when he became PM to lead a government of “integrity, professionalism and accountability” looking rather threadbare.

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Mark Harper, the transport secretary, has been giving interviews this morning, but he has been unable to say exactly when Sunak will take a decision and the position is the same as it was last night; the PM is considering the matter carefully. Harper told the BBC:

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I think actually that’s the fair thing to do both for the complainants, who made some serious complaints, but also for Dominic Raab. I think for both sides in this the prime minister should take the time.

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But the FDA, the union that represents senior civil servants, has described the situation as a farce. The union has been supporting some of the officials who complained about Raab and Dave Penman, its general secretary, told BBC Breakfast that Sunak should have taken a decision already. He said:

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We don’t need to redefine bullying, bullying is dealt with in workplaces up and down the country. There are demanding bosses and there are bullies, and everyone knows the difference.

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We don’t really know why [Sunak] hasn’t been able to decide on the facts that were presented to him yesterday. It just reinforces the point of what a kind of farce this whole process is for those who raised complaints.

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Whatever the reason for that is, a completely unsatisfactory state of affairs, to be honest.

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The Commons is not sitting today, and we are expecting the news today to focus on Raab. But Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is delivering a speech at 11am on primary health care. And Keir Starmer is on a visit in Yorkshire, where he will do a Q&A with health and care students.

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If you want to contact me, do try the new “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a PC or a laptop. (It is not available on the app yet.) This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line, privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate), or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.

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Key events

Here is a Guardian video explaining how the allegations against Dominic Raab emerged.

Streeting says it will take Labour 10 years to restore NHS to state it was in when Tories took power

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, chose the wrong day to give his health speech if he was hoping for much coverage. According to PA Media, in his speech Streeting said Labour would deliver the NHS care that patients want. PA says:

In a speech to the King’s Fund in central London, Wes Streeting reiterated Labour’s pledges on the NHS, saying the party would train 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses every year, including recruiting more medics from within the UK.

Streeting said he would boost the range of health professionals working alongside GPs to ease pressure on primary care, including more use of pharmacists to give things such as vaccinations, wider use of nurses within practices and, for example, allowing opticians to refer people directly to eye specialists.

He said patients often felt that there is “rationing going on and that the objective of the person on the other end of the phone in the [GP] reception”, and in other parts of the NHS, was to do what they could to ensure the patient could not be seen.

He said he did not think that was quite right, but that was how it felt to patients.

In the Q&A, Streeting also said he thought it would take Labour a decade to return the NHS to the state it was in when Labour left office. He said:

This far out from a general election, we want to make sure that we’ve got a plan that is both ambitious but also achievable. We’re not going to make promises we can’t keep.

But I want to see serious progress by the end of the first term of a Labour government because I want people to elect a second term of a Labour government and I do think that the public is smart enough to know that we’re not going to be able to fix everything overnight.

It will take, I think, a decade to get the NHS back to where it was under the last Labour government.

But we want to show real progress within the first term of a Labour government and we’re looking at what we could do as quickly as possible to deliver immediate results for patients.