Form a square around the Prittster, MPS told

Boris Johnson refuses to sack Home Secretary after rejecting report stating that she bullied civil servants

BORIS JOHNSON last night urged his MPS to “form a square around the Prittster” as a bitter war of words broke out between the Prime Minister and civil servants.

In a Whatsapp message, Mr Johnson rallied MPS to back Priti Patel after he refused to sack her for an alleged breach of the ministerial code and declared he had “full confidence” in her as Home Secretary. He rejected the findings of an inquiry by Sir Alex Allan, the Government’s ethics adviser, that she had bullied civil servants, albeit unintentionally, and that she had not consistently met the standards required by the ministerial code.

Instead, Mr Johnson pointed to findings in Sir Alex’s report that Ms Patel had been “justifiably frustrated” in many instances by a “lack of responsiveness and support” from obstructive mandarins, who failed to give her any feedback on the impact of her behaviour.

His decision to back Ms Patel, who yesterday issued a “fulsome and unreserved apology” to anyone she had upset, prompted the resignation of Sir Alex and a backlash from some of the country’s most senior former mandarins.

Lord Evans, chairman of the committee on standards in public life, which advises the Prime Minister on ethics, said it was “deeply concerning” that Sir Alex, “a man of great wisdom and integrity”, had resigned.

He said he would be “urgently” looking into the “effectiveness of the current arrangements for investigating and responding to breaches of the ministerial code” as part of a wider review of ethics in public life.

The former MI5 chief said the case highlighted his concern over the “lack of independence” in the way breaches were investigated, which meant Mr Johnson was caught between “his political judgment” and “standards issues”. Lord Gus O’donnell, the former Cabinet Secretary, said Ms Patel should have resigned. “I, personally, take the judgment of Alex Allan that actually there was a breach of the ministerial code,” he said.

Lord Kerslake, a former head of the Civil Service, said her failure to quit was “reprehensible”. “It is absolutely a clearcut breach of the code on a very serious issue of bullying. In those circumstances in any other time the minister would have gone,” he said.

Sir Philip Rutnam, whose resignation as the Home Office’s top mandarin amid claims of bullying by Ms Patel prompted the inquiry, disputed Sir Alex’s findings, claiming she had been advised not to

“shout and swear at staff ” a month after her appointment in July 2019.

“I advised her on a number of further occasions between Sept 2019 and Feb 2020 about the need to treat staff with respect,” he claimed, denying also that he had been obstructive.

In a statement, Mr Johnson said he did not believe Ms Patel had breached the code and considered “the matter now closed”. Allegra Stratton, his press secretary, said: “He did say that he would not tolerate bullying. He hasn’t tolerated bullying. It is not his belief that Priti Patel is a bully.”

Ms Patel offered “an unreserved apology”, adding: “I am sorry if I have upset people in any way whatsoever. That was completely unintentional.”