Report into Patel bullying claims facing weeks of delay

AN OFFICIAL report into bullying allegations made against Priti Patel looks set to be delayed for weeks after Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital.

The Home Secretary has been chairing daily meetings in the Home Office to coordinate the police response to coronavirus. She is expected to replace Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, to chair the daily No 10 press conference for the first time tomorrow.

The report was commissioned last month after allegations from senior civil servants about Ms Patel’s behaviour resulted in the resignation of Sir Philip Rutnam, the Home Office’s most senior official.

Sir Philip accused the Home Secretary of “shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands”. He is suing the Government for constructive dismissal.

The investigation, led by Helen Macnamara, the Cabinet Office’s directorgeneral for propriety and ethics, was delayed after she was forced to selfisolate after suffering coronavirus symptoms. It is understood Ms Patel was interviewed by the investigation team before then.

Ms Macnamara’s findings are due to be passed to the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Sir Alex Allan, this week, who will decide on whether Ms Patel has broken the rules.

Any decision will then be taken by the Prime Minister. However with Mr Johnson still in hospital, Whitehall sources are not expecting any decision for weeks.

There was speculation before his health took a turn for the worse that Mr Johnson is “extremely unlikely” to sack Ms Patel.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that “work is continuing” on the report.

Home Office sources said the investigation had started before coronavirus took hold, which was now “consuming a lot of bandwidth” in Whitehall.