Former top civil servant who worked under Raab dismisses "activists" claim Simon McDonald has denied Dominic Raab’s claims there were civil service “activists” in the Foreign Office and said those who worked under the former minister “worked very hard for him”. Lord McDonald was permanent secretary under Raab when he was foreign secretary and worked closely with the former deputy prime minister. McDonald told the BBC’s Today programme that he disagreed with his former boss and said there was no “separate civil service agenda” and he saw no evidence of a “group of activists trying to undermine a minister”. Asked for his characterisation of Raab’s behaviour while he was at the Foreign Office, he said: I witnessed a tough task master, I witnessed a minister who knew what he wanted to do, and frankly I witnessed somebody whose methods did not help him achieve what he wanted to do and that I raised with him more than once. When McDonald raised these issues with Raab he said the characterisation was “disputed” by the MP for Esher and Walton. McDonald added that the high threshold for submitting a formal complaint against ministers meant civil servants were reluctant to put their names to specific grievances. Without that evidence, Mr Raab was able to deflect. He said, and in a way reasonably, ‘What is the evidence?’. And without being able to present names and particular detailed instances, he resisted my representations. Closing summary The blog is closing for the day and will be back on Sunday morning. Here is what you might have missed: Simon McDonald has denied Dominic Raab’s claims there were civil service “activists” in the Foreign Office and said those who worked under the former minister “worked very hard for him”. Lord McDonald was permanent under-secretary under Raab when he was foreign secretary and worked closely with the former deputy prime minister. McDonald told the BBC’s Today programme that he disagreed with his former boss and said there was no “separate civil service agenda” and he saw no evidence of a “group of activists trying to undermine a minister”. The general secretary of the FDA has said Raab is setting a “dangerous” precedent by accusing civil servants involved in his bullying investigation of acting on political grounds, and called on the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to “intervene”. Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, has described Raab’s claims that “activist civil servants” blocked his work as “absurd”. He added that the resignation letter was “pretty graceless” and “in some instances malevolent”. Munira Wilson, MP for the Liberal Democrats, had said Raab is “unfit to be a minister” and has called for him to stand down as an MP. The party’s education spokesperson added that a byelection should take place so that constituents in Raab’s current seat of Esher and Walton can elect someone “who treats people with respect”. Hugo Swire, a Tory peer, said he thought Raab was “too big a talent” not to be back “in some capacity” following his resignation over bullying accusations. Lord Swire told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think to lose somebody who has been a justice secretary, a lord chancellor, deputy prime minister and foreign secretary at this stage is very unwise.” Labour MP Andrew Gwynne has said it is never acceptable for ministers to “bully”, “intimidate” or “harass” members of the civil service. He told BBC Breakfast that if Raab was having issues with “activist” civil servants, he should have raised it with the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office. Rishi Sunak has chaired a meeting of Cobra today after the head of the Sudanese army said the UK would evacuate diplomats and nationals currently trapped in Sudan by the outbreak of fighting. The prime minister held the meeting this morning, with the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, and Africa minister, Andrew Mitchell, also in attendance, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed. Former US president Donald Trump is to visit Ireland next month. It will come just weeks after his successor Joe Biden took part in a four-day visit to the island of Ireland. There is speculation the two men who went head to head in the 2020 US presidential election could again be candidates in 2024. SNP MP Stuart McDonald has been appointed as party treasurer after the resignation of Colin Beattie. Beattie stepped down on Tuesday after he was arrested and released without charge pending further investigation into the party’s finances. McDonald, MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, is a former lawyer. Doreen Lawrence has said her son Stephen’s “story remains as important and relevant as ever”, at a central London memorial service to mark the 30th anniversary of the teenager’s killing. The murder victim’s family gathered for the anniversary at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square on Saturday, with the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, also in attendance. Lady Lawrence said she was “filled with immense pride to witness all that has been achieved in his name”. Read more: Doreen Lawrence: Stephen’s story ‘as important and relevant as ever’ The Daily Express is reporting that Dominic Rabb could be offered a spot as a television presenter on GB News. A senior source at the rightwing news channel, told the newspaper: He would do very well for us and it is rare that somebody of his calibre comes along. Jacob [Rees-Mogg] is already very popular with our viewers as are Esther and Philip. He would be a good fit for us. GB News is already a popular haven for Tory MPs as Esther McVey and Philip Davies have a weekly show and Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lee Anderson are also presenters. Jacob Rees-Mogg has described Dominic Raab’s resignation as “unnecessary” and questioned if a British ambassador at the centre of the bullying complaints is a “wet wipe”. Asked about Raab’s resignation by Sky News, the Tory MP said: I think it’s unnecessary and, has come out today, I think it becomes clearer that is was unnecessary. The main complaint that was upheld relates to an ambassador, an extraordinarily senior figure who was deliberately going against government policy in Gibraltar, an issue of the highest sensitivity. And all that seems that Mr Raab did was raise the civil service code, which wasn’t being followed. Rees-Mogg added that one of the main complainants in the investigation against Raab is an ambassador, a job that requires you to have a “backbone”. You can’t intimidate an ambassador. Or if you can the ambassador’s no good. Ambassador’s have to have a backbone to represent the country abroad. This is really important. Is our ambassador a complete wet wipe? The Guardian’s latest editorial examines Dominic Raab’s departure. In the paper’s view, Raab’s resignation “is significant in that it heralds the changing of the guard in the Tory party.” An excerpt says: Rather than accepting responsibility for his behaviour, Mr Raab claimed in his missive that the inquiry would “have a chilling effect on those driving change on behalf of government – and ultimately the British people”. His opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph went further, alluding to a conspiracy of “unionised officials” threatening to bring down ministers. Mr Raab jumped before he was pushed out by the prime minister. Rishi Sunak’s pledge last October that he would run an administration that “will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level” would have been rendered empty if he had kept on a bully as his deputy. Read more: The Guardian view on Dominic Raab’s resignation: an ungracious departure Rishi Sunak chairs emergency Cobra meeting over Sudan crisis Rishi Sunak has chaired a meeting of Cobra today after the head of the Sudanese army said the UK would evacuate diplomats and nationals currently trapped in Sudan by the outbreak of fighting. The prime minister held the meeting this morning, with the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, and Africa minister, Andrew Mitchell, also in attendance, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed. A government spokesperson said: “We recognise that the situation is extremely concerning for British nationals trapped by the fighting in Sudan. “We are doing everything possible to support British nationals and diplomatic staff in Khartoum, and the Ministry of Defence is working with the Foreign Office to prepare for a number of contingencies.” The US, France and China are also set to remove their nationals, according to a statement on Saturday citing Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the nation’s de facto ruler. It said Burhan had agreed to facilitate the evacuation of a number of diplomats and nationals from multiple countries. Read more: UK, US and others prepare to evacuate nationals from Sudan The World Medical Association (WMA) has expressed “grave concern” about the UK government’s proposal to allow ministers to disregard interim measures issued by the European court of human rights in relation to the treatment of migrants. At their council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, physician leaders of the WMA said the association was committed to the principle of respect for international law and warned the UK’s stance could set a “dangerous precedent”. They voted unanimously for an emergency resolution which warned: If enacted, this legislation would remove an important protection for people seeking asylum, other migrants and those health workers caring for them. Rule 39 interim measures have prevented the forced removal of asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda, under a controversial offshoring scheme that the UK medical community has condemned on medical, ethical and humanitarian grounds. Human rights are only meaningful and effective if they are applied equally to everyone. Given the key role of the United Kingdom in drafting the European convention on human rights, this creates a dangerous precedent that other nations might seek to follow. SNP MP Stuart McDonald has been appointed as party treasurer after the resignation of Colin Beattie. Beattie stepped down on Tuesday after he was arrested and released without charge pending further investigation into the party’s finances. McDonald, MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, is a former lawyer. He was selected by the party’s national executive committee on Saturday morning and will remain in the post until the SNP annual conference, PA News reports. McDonald acknowledged it was a “difficult and challenging time” amid the police investigation into how more than £600,000 of party donations earmarked for independence campaigning was spent. He added: I look forward to getting on with the job of national treasurer to help take forward the important work being led by our new party leader, Humza Yousaf, to improve the SNP’s governance and transparency. I’ve no hesitation in stepping forward when asked to do my part in keeping our party firmly on a campaign footing as the case for Scottish independence becomes more compelling than ever. Former US president Donald Trump is to visit Ireland next month, PA reports. It will come just weeks after his successor Joe Biden took part in a four-day visit to the island of Ireland. There is speculation the two men who went head to head in the 2020 US presidential election could again be candidates in 2024. Mr Trump has owned the Trump International Hotel & Golf Links on the outskirts of Doonbeg in Co Clare since 2014. It has been indicated the resort expects the 76-year-old to land at Shannon Airport on 3 May for a stay. The last time the former president visited Ireland in 2019 he was still in office. There were some protests during that visit, but Trump and his sons Eric and Donald junior also received a warm welcome in Doonbeg. Trump is currently facing court action in the United States and has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to hide damaging information ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The health secretary’s legal challenge against the Royal College of Nursing’s forthcoming strike is a “blatant threat”, the union’s leader has said. Steve Barclay’s decision to refer to the courts, revealed on Friday, is the latest twist in the long-running saga over pay between nurses and the government. Nurses are gearing up to strike from 8pm on 30 April until 8pm on 2 May, but the legality of the final day is currently in dispute – as it could fall out of the union’s six-month mandate. The RCN general secretary, Pat Cullen, blasted the health secretary’s decision as “cruel” and “unacceptable” on Saturday morning. Read more: RCN chief: legal action over nurses’ strikes is ‘blatant threat’ Labour MP Andrew Gwynne has said it is never acceptable for ministers to “bully”, “intimidate” or “harass” members of the civil service. He told BBC Breakfast that if Dominic Raab was having issues with “activist” civil servants, he should have raised it with the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office. The shadow public health minister said: He [Raab] should have raised it with the permanent secretary of his department and it should have been dealt with by the permanent secretary in a professional way. It is not the responsibility of the secretary of state or any other minister to belittle and bully and intimidate members of staff of the paid civil service because they think they have their own political motivations. Former top civil servant, Simon McDonald, has denied Dominic Raab’s claims there were civil service “activists” in the Foreign Office. Lord McDonald was permanent secretary under Raab when he was foreign secretary and worked closely with the former deputy prime minister. He told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he disagreed with his former boss and said there was no ‘separate civil service agenda’ We have heard a lot from former ministers and civil servants reacting to the investigation and subsequent resignation of Dominic Raab. But we are still yet to know the thoughts of his former boss, Rishi Sunak. The prime minister wrote a letter response to Raab’s resignation (below), and we have comments from his spokesperson at No 10, however he is yet to make any public comments to the media. Raab unfit to be an MP, says Lib Dems" Munira Wilson Munira Wilson, MP for the Liberal Democrats, had said Dominic Raab is “unfit to be a minister” and has called for him to stand down as an MP. The party’s education spokesperson added that a byelection should take place so that constituents in Raab’s current seat of Esher and Walton can elect someone “who treats people with respect”. On Raab’s behaviour and reaction to the investigation into his conduct, she told BBC Breakfast: The lack of contrition is just staggering, the resignation letter has got to be up there with the history of graceless resignations. And I think his attack on the civil service is deeply concerning and is frankly the sign of a bully when they blame the victims and everybody else around them, but themselves. Dominic Raab, in his resignation statement, preferred to call it “direct critical feedback” and the “pace, standards and challenge” that he brought to his departments. His allies had previously defended him as someone who simply “expects people to be on their brief and puts them on the spot”. But in his report, Adam Tolley KC found that at times the politician had gone beyond merely demanding high standards of his staff, including instances in which he was “intimidating” or acted in a way that was “unreasonably and persistently aggressive”. So where does the line between “robustness” and bullying lie? While some conduct is very obviously unacceptable, experts acknowledge it is not always easy to judge when firm management crosses that line.