The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has rejected reports of an argument breaking out between her and her departments most senior civil servant.
Ms Patel has dismissed claims that MI5 doesn’t trust her and that she bullied her department’s most senior civil servant.
This comes following reports from the Press Association that suggest she is demanding a leak inquiry be carried out by the Cabinet Office following a number of “false allegations”, including that intelligence chiefs are limiting the information they share with her.
The claims come to light via The Sunday Times just days after the Home Secretary was accused of “bullying” officials by belittling them, making unreasonable demands and creating an “atmosphere of fear”.
The newspaper quoted a source as saying that the Home Secretary had a “fundamental disagreements about the rule of law with the Home Office’s top civil servant.”
According to the Press Association, Priti Patel tried to remove permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam from the role after they had a series of arguments and disagreements.
Despite all the talk, an ally of the Home Secretary told PA they “did not recognise” these claims, the Home Office said no formal complaint had been made against her and it takes staff welfare “extremely seriously”.
These matters are said to have come to light when an unnamed senior official is said to have collapsed after a meeting with Ms Patel, following an all-night effort to reverse a High Court ruling barring the deportation of 25 foreign criminals to Jamaica.
According to reports, the official was confronted by Ms Patel who demanded to know why the Home Office had failed to reverse the ruling.
He is later said to have fallen ill later during in the day and when he was checked over at the hospital was found to have a sodium deficiency, believed to be because he drank too much water while working late.
A source told the PA that staff were exhausted from working all night however dismissed claims the meeting had got at all heated, they described the meeting as “constructive”, with officials being asked to work on finding solutions to making sure the situation did not occur again.
Business minister Nadhim Zahawi said he had known Ms Patel for 25 years and praised her for being someone who’s “utterly professional, works night and day to deliver for the country”.
“She is a brilliant, collegiate team player,” he told LBC, adding when asked if she was a bully: “No, I don’t think she is at all.”
However, not everyone shared the same opinion, Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, said staff at the Home Office were “working flat out”.
Mr Penman said: “Putting undue pressure and demands on committed public servants that are already overstretched does not make for good government and will do this administration no favours in delivering its policy priorities,
“Ministers have to recognise the consequences of their behaviour.”
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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