Intelligence chiefs are ‘sharing less information with Priti Patel because they don’t trust her’ as Home Office war continues
- MI5 bosses are apparently handing over less information to the Home Secretary
- Sources said officers in security services ‘don’t have confidence in her abilities’
- Claims come amid Home Office war after Priti Patel clashed with top mandarin
Intelligence chiefs are said to be sharing less information with Priti Patel than they did with her predecessors because they do not have ‘have confidence in her abilities’.
MI5 finds the Home Secretary ‘extremely difficult to deal with’ because she does not ‘grasp the subtleties of intelligence’, it was claimed today.
Meanwhile, security service personnel apparently regularly ‘roll their eyes’ following interventions made by Ms Patel during high level meetings.
Allies of Ms Patel believe she is the victim of a damaging briefing operation because of an ongoing war at the Home Office.
MI5 is said to be sharing less information with Home Secretary Priti Patel than it did with her predecessors
Ms Patel tried to get rid of Sir Philip Rutnam, the department’s permanent secretary, after they clashed.
The Home Secretary has faced accusations of bullying and belittling staff – claims her allies have vehemently rejected.
Sir Philip is said to have raised concerns about Ms Patel’s treatment of staff with the Cabinet Office.
Sir Philip is facing a backlash over his handling of the Windrush scandal with former home secretary Amber Rudd having apparently accused him of being ‘absent’ during the crisis.
Ms Rudd, who was forced to resign over the immigration controversy, has reportedly told an official review into what happened that Sir Philip’s alleged ‘absence’ was ‘inappropriate’.
Sir Philip told the Home Affairs Select Committee in November 2018 that he felt ‘personal responsibility for the fact that we did not spot the Windrush events sooner’.
However, he said that was ‘not the same, though, as saying that I am responsible in the sense that I should have done something in real time to prevent it’.
The row came as the Sunday Times reported that intelligence bosses have reduced the amount of information they share with Ms Patel.
Sir Philip Rutnam, permanent secretary at the Home Office, is facing a backlash over his handling of the Windrush scandal
One official told the newspaper: ‘The spooks find her extremely difficult to deal with.
‘She doesn’t grasp the subtleties of intelligence. It’s not black and white. They don’t have confidence in her abilities.’
Another source said the security services ‘have to decide how much to share, and they share less’.
They also claimed that Ms Patel is now ‘informed about things later in the decision making process’.