There is no place for bullying, warns PM

BORIS JOHNSON has written to ministers and heads of Government departments warning them that there is “no place for bullying” after an investigation into Priti Patel found she had shouted and sworn at staff.

In a joint letter with Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, the Prime Minister said there was a “particular duty” on ministers and permanent secretaries to create a culture t hat was “professional, respectful, focused and ambitious for change and in which there is no place for bullying”.

He also stressed the “paramount importance” of relationships between politicians and their civil servants being based on “mutual trust and respect.”

“This includes keeping internal conversations private, feeling able to speak freely and honestly about matters of state and to speak constructively about things that are not working so that we can fix them together promptly,” said Mr Johnson.

His letter follows the resignation of Sir Alex Allan, his adviser on ethics, after the Prime Minister overruled him and rejected his findings that Ms Patel, the Home Secretary, had “unintentionally” bullied staff.

But Sir Alex also said her “forceful expression” stemmed from frustration at a “lack of responsiveness and support” by senior Home Office civil servants.

Ms Patel apologised again yesterday for the upset she had caused to staff, as a former Cabinet colleague Baroness Morgan recalled that after a meeting with Priti Patel on online harms laws, when the Home Secretary had left, “I saw her officials actively undermine what she had just said in the meeting room.

“I was shocked, my officials at DCMS were shocked, so I’m afraid to say I think there was a culture problem and I hope very much that it can be sorted out.”