Page:Formal Complaints about the Conduct of The Right Honourable Dominic Raab MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice.pdf/35

 what he requires, either in substance or form, or he perceives that others are obstructing his efforts. Such frustration is likely to have been expressed by the DPM on occasion, particularly in the high-pressure and tense working environment involved.

144. I find that the DPM's conduct in the DExEU Period was not offensive, malicious or insulting. It could reasonably have been and was experienced as intimidating, in the sense of unreasonably demanding. In view of the passage of time and the lack of available evidence, I have not been able to make any finding as to whether his conduct was in fact intimidating in this sense. I found no evidence to suggest any abuse or misuse of power.

145. Certain individuals genuinely believed that they had suffered significant negative impacts on their psychological well-being as a result of their interactions with the DPM. Although they also said that they attributed these impacts to the DPM's conduct, it was not possible in view of the available evidence for me to form any conclusion as to cause and effect.

146. I find that the DPM did not intend any adverse effect on others. Some of his conduct was undoubtedly experienced as abrasive and difficult and that experience was to some extent inevitable, particularly in the unusually tense and high-pressure work environment of the DExEU Period. It appears to me that the DPM was so focused on achieving his desired outcomes, in what he genuinely believed to be the public interest, that there were occasions when he did not take into account, fully or at all, his likely effect on some others.

147. On the basis of the evidence I received, at no stage during the DExEU Period did anyone draw to the DPM's attention that his conduct was in any way problematic. No-one used the term 'bullying' (or anything similar) in discussion with him.

148. The DPM did not know and could not reasonably have been aware of what was said to have been the impact of his conduct on certain individuals. No such matter was brought to his attention prior to the DExEU Complaint itself.