By Ben Kerrigan-
The Media and the Uk Prime minister, Dominic Raab appear to be too soft with potential bully Dominic Raab.
Rather than swiftly investigating the claims of bullying against Dominic Raab, the prime minister has dragged his feet on the matter until a union leader has urged him to get his ethics adviser to investigate the claims.
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Investigating the claims is not difficult at all, and is something the BBC can easily do, and even The Guardian today reported that investigator Adam Tolley KC will only “establish the specific facts” surrounding the claims, which Sunak will then rule on.
There is no doubt that The Guardian which has in the past thrived on investigations, has what it takes to investigate the bullying claims without waiting for a questionable tory party with a track record of covering up their own to conduct the inquiry on an important issue.
Bullying in government has long been a serious issue arising primarily from arrogance and power drunkenness. It spirals out of control and sometimes frustrates victims of bullying to transfer the inferior and depressing feeling rising from the bullying to other people as part of a cycle.
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Former Home Secretary, Priti Patel was in the past accused of bullying, though the allegation was never proven to be true or false. Associates of powerful individuals in government who witness bullying will many times find it acceptable to repeat imitate the bullying they have observed in any sphere where they find power themselves, or already possess it.
Bullies in government or any organisation, including employment should be confronted through full investigations.
Reputable media publication The Conversation,Com also published an article attributing the Dominic Raab’s conduct to abusive supervision rather than bullying. Its implication was that no investigation is necessary because of the plausibility of the claims, except that it is not bullying, just supervision in the extreme.
The idea has the appearance of cushioning a serious misconduct and playing it down
Written by Kara Ng, an analyst of Psychology from Manchester, the article states that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak continues to refuse to suspend Mr Raab from office while accusations that he has behaved inappropriately towards staff are investigated.
She points out that the Uk government has confirmed that lawyer Adam Tolley is leading an investigation into two complaints made about Raab’s conduct while at the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Justice.
The psychologists then reveals that The BBC reports there are eight formal complaints currently standing against Raab, adding that ” allowing him to stay on in power, while receiving tacit support from high-ranking Tory politicians, nevertheless risks sending the signal that such behaviour is tolerated”.
Again, the writer asserts that the ”behaviour” alleged occurred and really needs action, not an investigation.
”Sunak has indicated that Raab would be sacked if the[unnecessary] investigation finds that he did behave inappropriately but insists he won’t move against him before then, stating on February 7:
An important aspect pointed out by the psychologist relates to suggestions by others that Sunak does not sack Sunak to reward his loyalty, prioritising hi pre-existing social connections over the wellbeing of their staff.
The psychologist explains that Raab’s social power over his staff is connected to ability to influence their careers and experience in the workplace. A government minister is at the centre of a government department. Power is very much centralised towards them – that includes people’s career trajectory.
Describing abusive supervision as interactions in which followers perceive their supervisors as engaging in hostile verbal and non-verbal behaviours, such as hurtful remarks, public humiliation or scapegoating, the writer says it can be classed as ”a type of workplace bullying”, which can be even more detrimental because supervisors often have formal power to influence an employee’s life at work”.
”Abusive supervision can also affect more than one target, so you may have whole teams of employees who feel victimised. Academic research establishes that abusive supervision can lead to worse employee performance, worse mental health, and can even affect employees’ family lives”.
A recent study suggests that abusive supervision undermines “public service motivation”, which is an employee’s motivation to work in public institutions and “for the greater good”. This is surely a detrimental sign for civil servants.
Interestingly, she adds that ”employees may feel they have to emulate, or model, abusive behaviours to get ahead, as they have observed other senior figures behaving that way.
”Whatever the investigation into Raab concludes, failing to send a signal that these issues are being taken seriously from the outset sends precisely the wrong signal”.
The psychologist is spot on as far as sending the wrong signals are concerned, but abusive supervision is no substitute for bullying in the context of the allegations made against Dominic Raab.
The allegations against Raab are serious, and a failure to deliver an honourable outcome reflective of a true investigation will be no different from the police failings in acting following several complaints against David Charrick.
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