John Culatto
THE Government of Gibraltar has praised Dominic Raab after he resigned from the UK Cabinet when an independent report found he had bullied officials.
The government said in a statement that Chief Minister Fabian Picardo had ‘worked very well’ with Raab when he Brexit Secretary and Foreign Secretary.
Raab carried out his promise to resign from his position as Deputy Prime Minister on Friday after the investigation released its final report.
He was an essential part of Gibraltar’s effort to set up the New Year’s Framework Agreement.
“Mr Raab showed throughout a deep understanding of the issues and a solid determination to defend and uphold the wishes and the interests of Gibraltar and its people,” the government said.
But, unlike Raab, the government said that, it also had ‘a strong and professional working relationship with countless senior officials and diplomats’.
They have ‘assisted Gibraltar on our journey to leave the European Union and in the ongoing negotiations to secure a future relationship with it’, the statement added.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed to the independent report on Raab’s behaviour after formal complaints by civil servants.
The report said Raab was ‘intimidating’ and ‘persistently aggressive’ as Foreign Secretary.
It added that he described the work of civil servants as ‘utterly useless’ and ‘woeful’ while he worked at three different government departments.
But Raab hit back, saying the report by lawyer Adam Tolley was flawed and ‘set a dangerous precedent’ for ministers ‘driving change’ because of the low threshold for bullying.
His resignation comes at a bad time for the Gibraltar Government.
With only months to go before a possible change of government in Spain, the UK has still not agreed terms with Spain over a potential EU treaty.
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