After all, three centuries ago the beating of servants was a widely accepted part of life, although in 1740 one woman, Mary Branch, and her mother were both hanged after going too far and beating a girl to death.
Of course, no one has suggested that the Deputy Prime Minister was physically violent. However, 24 to 30 civil servants, possibly more, have reportedly made formal complaints about his behaviour, which seems like rather a lot. Dave Penman, of the FDA union for senior civil servants, claimed lives and careers had been “ruined”.
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Hide AdFor his part, Raab, under investigation by a senior lawyer, insists he “behaved professionally throughout”. However, it would be interesting to know whether or not he thinks Rees-Mogg’s intervention is helpful.
“I think we've got to be slightly careful about the bullying allegations,” Rees-Mogg said. “We mustn't be too snowflakey about it. People need to be able to say this job has not been done well enough and needs to be done better.” Well indeed, but that doesn’t sound like anything that would cause at least two dozen civil servants to lodge a formal complaint. No one is that “snowflakey”, surely.
After the dismissal of Nadhim Zahawi from the Cabinet, Rishi Sunak will soon have another ethical decision to make. Let’s just hope he has a better grasp of modern sensibilities than the former Brexit Secretary should the evidence support the civil servants, rather than their political master.
