At a meeting of Justice Department officials to discuss Dominic Raab’s actions, the Guardian said “people died” during his evacuation from Afghanistan because he refused to look at documents in a format he didn’t like. It was broken. Raab, a former foreign secretary but recently reappointed attorney general and deputy prime minister, is the subject of an investigation into allegations of bullying first uncovered by the Guardian. As a result, the judgment of Rishi Sunak was questioned. In the new allegation, MoJ officials told The Guardian that the May 6 politically-engaged deputy directors’ meeting was supposedly set to discuss the performance of Raab’s office, but that “their [deputy directors’ It resulted in a 45-minute discussion about ] ] Raab’s experience of bullying”. The deputy director praised the private firm’s accomplishments, but they all witnessed Raab’s alleged bullying, and in one case, said they were victims.
The official added:
“There was a long discussion to clarify that his behavior stepped over the mark from forthright to unprofessional. One deputy director relayed the extraordinary information that, when Raab was at [the] FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), people had died when advice about the evacuation of Afghanistan had been delayed because he didn’t like the formatting.” Raab has previously faced criticism over his role in the chaotic Afghanistan evacuation after the fall of Kabul in August last year when he was on holiday in Crete. In evidence to the foreign affairs select committee, whistleblower and ex-FCDO official Raphael Marshall said Raab took “hours to engage” when he was asked to personally approve exceptional cases and returned files asking for them to be submitted in a different spreadsheet format. Marshall said he believed the delay meant some people never made it to Kabul’s airport. Other officials have confirmed to the Guardian and Observer that Raab is very particular about the formatting of documents.
Shortly after his withdrawal from Afghanistan, he was demoted from Minister of Foreign Affairs to Minister of Justice, but at the same time appointed Deputy Prime Minister.
He claimed that the Minister of Justice “shouted and belittled`’ the officials at the meeting for no particular reason. After being sacked as justice minister and deputy prime minister when Liz Truss became prime minister, Sunak has re-appointed him to both roles as he enters number ten. Labor has responded to the latest allegations by reiterating its call for an independent review of FCDO culture. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “This is further proof that Dominic Raab created a toxic culture at FCDO that could endanger lives during the catastrophic evacuation from Afghanistan. ” The Guardian understands that Raab denies all allegations and claims his evacuation was not slowed by concerns about the quality of the documents he was given. Raab is also understood to have denied claims that he went to the gym and missed the meeting.
