Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab has maintained his innocence as several senior civil servants across various government departments prepare to lodge more complaints against him, the BBC reports.
Raab has already requested that his conduct towards government staff be investigated to help clear his name, following the emergence of two initial allegations.
Now, the BBC says that several of Raab’s former private secretaries are to submit more formal complaints against him to ensure they are factored into the probe.
Dave Penman, who heads civil servants’ union the FDA, called it an “extraordinary set of circumstances.”
Penman said: “We've never come across a situation where so many civil servants appear to be raising complaints about a minister's conduct.
“So, if they are serious allegations about his conduct, that the prime minister has seen, he has to make a decision - is it safe essentially for civil servants to continue to work with him? That's what any employer would do.”
Lawyer Adam Tolley KC has been appointed by the government to investigate the first two complaints against Raab.
The deputy PM has said that he will “thoroughly rebut and refute any claims” of bullying against him and insists he has always conducted himself professionally.
The final decision on whether Raab is culpable of a breach of ministerial code with his conduct toward civil servants will be made by prime minister, Rishi Sunak, following the investigation.
Number 10 says that the concluding report of the investigation will be published “in a timely way”.
