PRITI.. AWFUL
Top aide quits and brands her lying bully
PRITI Patel’s future is uncertain today after her top civil servant quit and branded her a liar.
Sir Philip Rutnam accused the Home Secretary of bullying staff and waging a “vicious” campaign to drive him out.
He said it included false claims that he had briefed journalists against her – and he did not believe her denials of involvement.
Sir Philip said: “I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands – behaviour that created fear and needed some bravery to call out.”
The Home Office Permanent Secretary said he would sue for constructive dismissal. A source said: “Priti must be toast. What he says to an employment tribunal will be dynamite.”
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said it was “the clearest sign yet of the underlying right-wing, authoritarian but incompetent nature of the Government. They will not tolerate dissent, yet can’t cope with flooding or a possible pandemic.” Sir Philip’s bombshell resignation yesterday led to calls from unions for PM Boris Johnson to stop what they claim is a campaign by his chief adviser Dominic Cummings to undermine the civil service. It comes two weeks after Sajid Javid quit as Chancellor after he was ordered to fire his aides.
Sir Philip said he had been “the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign” and his experience was part of a “wider pattern” in government.
Speaking out had cost him a generous payoff offered to buy his silence, he said.
Lord Kerslake, former head of the civil service, said Sir Philip’s departure was “quite extraordinary” and “unprecedented”.
He added: “For him to have done this – he must have been pushed to the limit and beyond.”
Ms Patel was sacked as International Development Secretary in November 2017 by ex-PM Theresa May for holding unauthorised meetings with Israelis. Mr Johnson brought her back into the Cabinet last July.
PRITI Patel is not just what is wrong with the Home Office. She is a symptom of what is wrong with this government.
It’s unheard of for a Whitehall mandarin as senior as Sir Philip Rutnam to quit as dramatically as he did yesterday.
And to publicly accuse the Home Secretary of being a bully and a liar is unprecedented.
Sir Philip was one of Whitehall’s Sir Humphreys who obey a strict code of omerta. They may pull the strings behind the scenes but they never – but never – speak out publicly.
For him to be driven to do so, and give up a handsome payoff to boot, shows there is something rotten at the core of government.
And the worst of the bad apples are in Downing Street – Boris Johnson and his sinister sidekick Dominic Cummings.
TOXIC TYRANNY
Their goal is to turn a healthy Parliamentary majority into a toxic tyranny. And they will destroy anyone who stands in their way.
A ministerial adviser is marched from No10 to the dole queue by armed men. A chancellor is told he can keep his job but only if he sacks his staff.
The PM and Cummings put the BBC in Coventry, but will not go to Coventry or other cities when they flood. And they behaved as if bedridden when coronavirus first emerged. Only now are they awake to the threat. Mr Johnson demands to be treated not as first among equals but as Dear Supreme Leader, a dictator firing off commands from deep within his No10 bunker.
And a blind eye is often turned when ministers bully and harass their hardworking staff who do their best to look after us.
Sir Philip’s actions yesterday will most likely end in Ms Patel also losing her job.
But sadly there is a way to go before Boris Johnson loses his.