Dominic Raab quits as report criticises his ‘unreasonably aggressive conduct’

Dominic Raab has resigned as the UK's deputy prime minister and as justice secretary after an official report into bullying allegations found he had acted in an "intimidating" manner towards civil servants.

The investigation by Adam Tolley KC, a leading employment barrister, said Raab had on a number of occasions "gone further" than appropriate in delivering critical feedback and been insulting about work done by Ministry of Justice officials.

Tolley believed that while Raab did not intend to upset or humiliate officials, they found him "unreasonably difficult to deal with", as he was sometimes "abrasive" - and while he had regulated his level of abrasiveness, "he should have altered his approach earlier".

He also found that Raab, who attended four interviews over the five-month inquiry into allegations about bullying behaviour in the Ministry of Justice and other Whitehall departments, had acted with "unreasonably and persistently aggressive conduct" while foreign secretary.

Raab released an angry resignation letter on Friday morning in which he said the conclusions of the report into his conduct set a "dangerous precedent" by setting the threshold for bullying "so low" - but that he wanted to "keep his word" to quit if it found against him.

Raab had faced multiple formal complaints over his dealings with civil servants, including claims, first revealed by the Guardian, that he bullied and belittled staff, driving some to tears or causing them to vomit before meetings.

The departure of such a close political ally is a major blow to Rishi Sunak who is facing questions over his judgment after civil servants flagged that there had been "issues" with Raab in his previous departments before he decided to bring him back into government.