Civil servants who “can’t stand the heat” should “get out of the kitchen” rather than complain about bullying by ministers, a senior Tory MP has said.
Bernard Jenkin said while it was a “good thing” that workplaces were less tolerant of bullying than in the past, officials should accept politics is “tough”.
It came as Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure to explain what he knew about the bullying allegations surrounding deputy prime minister Dominic Raab before appointing him.
Raab is under investigation over complaints from at least 24 civil servants about his behaviour. He denies the allegations.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4′s World at One programme on Wednesday, Jenkin said whether reports Raab left one official feeling suicidal “would depend on the state mind of the person concerned”.
“What the civil service is rather good at is where there is a rather difficult minister - and this is not unknown - tougher civil servants are put in the firing line in front of that minister.
“Bullying is a very subjective thing,” he said. “This is quite a new workplace issue that all employers are dealing with.
“We all know there are many people who are incapable of being bullied and relish a tough boss.
“There are plenty of other people who find aggressive behaviour or overbearing behaviour very intimating and are very easily bullied.”
Jenkin, the chair of the liaison committee, politics was “a tough profession”.
“To an extent, if you’re at the top of the civil service or working closely with minsters, if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen,” he added.
Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union which represents civil servants, said: “The implication of this line is that there is no behaviour from a minister that can be considered bullying and they can act with impunity - that civil servants at the heart of government have to just accept whatever conduct they experience from ministers or leave.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer earlier accused Sunak of being “too weak” to act against Raab and asked whether he was “the only person completely unaware” of the allegations.