UK PM Sunak’s Ex-Minister Denies Allegations of Berating Staff

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street in London on March 1, 2023 on his way to attend the Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQ) session at the House of CommonsInternationalIndiaAfricaOleg BurunovBoth Alok Sharma and Dominic Raab have vehemently denied the allegations, arguing that they maintained friendly relations with their staffers.UK Conservative MP and former UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) President Alok Sharma has been accused of berating civil servants, a US news agency has quoted unnamed officials as saying.Sharma, who also served as secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS), is said to have been “difficult, unpredictable and could quickly lose his temper,” according to the sources.

Officials working with Sharma between 2020 and 2022 claimed that he would “insult staff’s work” and “use profanity,” as well as purportedly called junior staff without warning to deliver criticism.

The sources argued that civil servants raised concerns about Sharma’s behavior with their bosses on at least four occasions in 2020, although they stopped short of filing official complaints.

The 55-year-old has denied the accusations, telling the US news outlet that he had “never been made aware of any ‘informal complaints’ or otherwise from staff.”

“The Cabinet Office has confirmed that there are no records of any informal or formal complaints across government about me,” Sharma asserted, adding that he denies “strongly these allegations.”“I have worked with hundreds of officials as a government minister and always felt I maintained a good relationship with them, exemplified by seven of my BEIS private office team, those officials working most closely with me, choosing to join my COP private office alongside those I had worked with in previous ministerial roles,” he argued.The allegations come as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak braces for a report on whether his deputy Dominic Raab bullied staff, something that may put the Cabinet head under pressure.WorldDeputy UK Prime Minister Raab Faces 5 More Bullying Complaints: Reports14 December 2022, 18:13 GMTThe report, in particular, looks into claims that Raab repeatedly reduced staff to tears and “ruined people’s lives” through “coercive behavior.” The deputy prime minister rejects the allegations, insisting that he “behaved professionally at all times,” but pledged he would resign if an allegation is upheld.

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