Angela Rayner borrowed one of Donald Trump’s catchphrases on Wednesday when she demanded Rishi Sunak “drain the swamp” in his cabinet.
Speaking during PMQs, Labour’s deputy leader said the government had “no ethnics, no integrity and no mandate”.
Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, who was standing in for Sunak, is facing multiple accusations of bullying civil servants.
Raab is now facing an independent inquiry into two separate complaints about his behaviour.
Defending himself, he told MPs government had “zero tolerance” for bullying and that he would cooperate with the inquiry, which he had asked to be held.
However, the government currently lacks an ethics adviser as Christopher Geidt was not replaced after he quit in June when Boris Johnson was PM.
“This is anti-bullying week — will he apologise?” Rayner said. “When will they appoint an independent ethics adviser and drain the swamp?”
Raab said the appointment of Geidt’s successor was “taking place at pace” and accused Rayner of a “mix of bluster and mudslinging”.
Trump deployed the phrase “drain the swamp” during his first campaign in 2016 as he sought to captalise on public dissatisfaction with the perceived corruption of Washington DC.
The former president yesterday announced he would seek to recapture the White House in 2024 to “make America great and glorious again”.
According to The Guardian, civil servants in the Ministry of Justice were offered a “route out” of the department when Sunak reappointed Raab to the job last month.
The Sun reported Raab had once hurled tomatoes from his Pret A Manger lunch across a room in a fit of anger, although the deputy PM said today this was “not true”.
The Mirror said Raab has acquired the nickname “The Incinerator” because he “burns through” staff.
The allegations against Raab come shortly after Gavin Williamson resigned from cabinet after he was also accused of bullying.
Sunak has also faced criticism for reinstating Suella Braverman as home secretary just six days after she was forced to step down over a security breach.