Dominic Raab Foreign Office mandarin had warned about behaviour

Dominic Raab was warned about his behaviour towards officials while he was foreign secretary by the department's top civil servant, who informally reported his concerns to the Cabinet Office's propriety and ethics team.

- Pippa Crerar Jessica Elgot

The Guardian understands Simon McDonald, the then permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, spoke to Raab on several occasions during his tenure about how he treated staff in his private office and in meetings.

Sources claim that while none of the officials wanted to make a formal complaint, as they felt that working for the department was a privilege, they decided to inform McDonald about the alleged bullying. Several were said to have left earlier than they had planned as a result of Raab's alleged behaviour.

McDonald, now a cross-bench peer, was said to have had several informal conversations with the head of the propriety and ethics team (PET) at the Cabinet Office between 2019 and 2020 about the issue. One government source said the minister "was definitely on their list". McDonald declined to comment about the allegations.

The fresh claims pile further pressure on Rishi Sunak, who robustly defended his deputy prime minister to reporters on the flight to the G20 summit in Bali, rejecting claims from multiple civil servants that he had bullied staff.