As a libertarian, I have a particular dislike for bullies.
Whether it be individuals, groups, big business, local councils or the Government, my whole being reacts strongly against those seeking to force others to their will, whether that be through violence, the threat of violence, intimidatory language or inappropriate legislation.
Like many readers of this column, I myself have experienced bullying. It can have the most terrible consequences on victims’ mental and physical health.
So, I took a particular interest in the allegations against Dominic Raab during his time as Brexit Secretary, and then Secretary of State for Justice and Deputy Prime Minister, and the outcome of the investigation by Adam Tolley, the independent investigator.
The charge-list included references to Mr Raab shouting instructions, thumping tables for emphasis and wagging his finger in a dismissive manner!
I must admit to not being much of a fan of Mr Raab. During his earlier role as Brexit Secretary, he messed up a key part of the Brexit negotiations with the European Union due to his ignorance around the central importance of the Port of Dover to this country’s prosperity. And in 2020, when standing in as Deputy Prime Minister, for the recovering PM Boris Johnson, he dodged an opportunity to ease lockdown.
Raab had two out of the eight complaints against him upheld, with the investigation report concluding that he had "acted in a way which was intimidating", and had been "unreasonably and persistently aggressive" in meetings. Having been found to have breached the Ministerial Code in this way, he had no choice except to resign.
Good riddance, then. All cut and dried.
And yet, and yet. The whole episode leaves me worried, for many reasons.
Firstly, dare I say, it highlights the unresolved issues as to when firm leadership and management tips over into bullying. As a business owner, I know that being the perfect manager is an impossibility - just as being the perfect employee rarely goes beyond the theoretical.
The key issue for me, within that arena of well-meaning but imperfect human beings, is to establish a mutually supportive relationship where sometimes difficult conversations can take place in a respectful manner.
But it’s not easy: a manager doing their job in trying to boost performance can be perceived by an under-pressure member of staff as bullying, especially when a trade union rep is involved.
The National Bullying Helpline defines the matter as: "Most people understand bullying as behaviour by an individual or group, repeated over time, that is intended to hurt another individual or group either physically or emotionally."
Was Raab's main ambition to demean the senior civil servants around him - or was his primary motivation to deliver upon the priorities of the Government within his ministerial responsibilities, his focus upon which sometimes resulted in him being critical of others' opinions and performance?
Secondly, bullying is most obvious where there is a clear power imbalance between the people involved. But in this case, I get the impression that there was something of an equivalence between Raab on the one hand and a procession of long-serving senior career civil servants, well-remunerated and well-set in their careers, to an extent far greater than exists for most of us.
And with that longevity and security comes real power, arguably far more than a minister who occupies a role for usually only a couple of years.
The late TV interviewer, Sir Robin Day, once quipped about “here today and gone tomorrow ministers”. But he alighted on a key truth: the Civil Service has a monopoly on administrative power and elected politicians have to move quickly and without bureaucratic delay to get them to deliver manifesto commitments.
I’m so against the anti-democratic nature of the ‘Blob’, the establishment Groupthink that dominates the upper echelons of the Civil Service, that I’d like to see us employing the US model, whereby incoming administrations bring in their own senior teams.
Thirdly, it does appear that the complaints against Dominic Raab were mostly coordinated, technically beyond the three-month claim window, and most worryingly of all lodged on the same day in November last year. Talk of activist civil servants seems to be appropriate here. There was clearly a plan to get Raab.
Finally, and I have to ask this question here, isn’t this whole sorry saga due less to Raab being a shouty, tetchy man (at times, allegedly) and more about senior civil servant fragility and wokeness?
What seems to have been allowed to develop over the last couple of decades, is a Whitehall culture that allows senior civil servants to evade tough questions and rigorous analysis from their fleeting political masters?
It does appear that the complaints against Dominic Raab were all carefully coordinated with most being lodged on the same day in November last year.
Passive aggressive civil servants are a disaster for this county and this country.
The persistent failure of successive Governments to invest proportionally in Suffolk’s infrastructure is down in part to the Groupthink mentioned earlier.
The result is a dilution in the accountability of these well-paid mandarins and, therefore, a decay in their effectiveness and that of the machinery of Government, both at home and abroad.
Raab may have been a poor minister, but he – and we – have been badly let down by the self-serving culture surrounding him.
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