Home Secretary hit by barrage of online abuse

HOME Secretary Priti Patel has faced a barrage of racist and sexist abuse on social media since allegations that she bullied her staff emerged last week.

Online trolls – some of whom told her to ‘go back to India’ and who mocked her Ugandan background – claimed to be members of Labour, the SNP and Green Party.

One Twitter user calling himself AJ and claiming to be a Labour member in the North, said: ‘Priti Patel is like the woman off GoldenEye who gets an orgasm from killing people, she’s absolutely vile.’

Arthur O’Connor, who claims to be a Green Party member, tweeted: ‘Priti Patel must have her citizenship removed – after all Idi Amin couldn’t stand her family – he didn’t like currey [sic]. Why should we have his leftovers?’ He added: ‘Isn’t it time Priti Patel took herself off to India? She is only here as an undesirable immigrant.’

While Ms Patel’s family did come to Britain from Uganda, they arrived here well before the expulsion of Asians in 1972.

A user calling himself Dan Lee and claiming to be an SNP member tweeted: ‘It’s not sexism, it’s that she’s a total c***. Hateful woman who has no moral base.’

The abuse aimed at the Home Secretary erupted after her most senior civil servant, Sir Philip Rutnam, resigned last weekend, accusing her of orchestrating a culture of bullying. Twitter hashtags such as #Pritiawful were trending last week, with online trolls using the handles to leave abusive messages. The Home Secretary’s own Instagram account was also targeted.

Last night, most of those behind the abusive messages declined to respond to requests for comment. But Mr Lee stood by his tweet, saying he had ‘no regrets’.

The Home Office has also declined to comment on the abuse that Ms Patel has faced.

Last night, a friend of Ms Patel said: ‘Certain sections of the Left refuse to accept that Priti has different views to those that they think a daughter of immigrants should have.’