Allies of Priti Patel today leapt to her defence after she was accused of bullying staff at the Home Office.
The Home Secretary is said to have clashed with a senior mandarin at her department and also faces allegations of belittling officials and making unreasonable demands, creating an ‘atmosphere of fear’.
Meanwhile, it was also claimed Ms Patel had made demands in meetings which officials considered to be illegal.
The Home Secretary allegedly questioned at a meeting in October last year why the police could not use force to stop Extinction Rebellion protestors shutting down London.
But supporters of Ms Patel have dismissed the claims, with Business minister Nadhim Zahawi insisting that she is ‘utterly professional’ and ‘works day and night’.
The Home Office said no formal complaints had been made against the Cabinet minister.
Ms Patel has sought to oust permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam from the Home Office, reportedly raising the issue with Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwilll, according to the Times.
His time at the Home Office has proved to be controversial because he was in post during the Windrush scandal, and he subsequently faced Tory calls to quit to ‘restore confidence’ in the department.
Priti Patel has been accused of bullying and belittling officials in meetings, she is pictured in Downing Street on February 14
Nadhim Zahawi, a Business Minister pictured in Downing Street in October 2019, said Ms Patel is ‘utterly professional’ as he rejected the bullying claims made against the Home Secretary
Sir Philip Rutnam (pictured left) is said to have raised concerns about Ms Patel’s treatment of staff with the Cabinet Office. The Home Secretary reportedly pushed Sir Mark Sedwill (pictured right) to get rid of Sir Philip
Mr Zahawi told LBC: ‘I’ve known Priti for 25 years, she’s utterly professional, works night and day to deliver for the country and her constituents and is absolutely focused on making sure… the people voted for us to take back control of our borders.’
Pushed on whether he believed Ms Patel is a bully, Mr Zahawi said: ‘No, I don’t think she is at all.
‘I’ve worked with Priti in the past on several campaigns, I’ve known her literally for 25 years, she is a brilliant, collegiate team player.’
The bombshell claims relating to the Home Secretary were first reported by The Times.
A senior Whitehall source said that the situation at the Home Office had become ‘completely unsustainable and was going to blow up’.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We have not received any formal complaints and we take the welfare of our staff extremely seriously.’
An ally of Ms Patel told The Times: ‘The Home Office is dysfunctional and the current permanent secretary had presided over a sacking of a home secretary (Amber Rudd) and accidental deportations.
‘If this were any other environment Philip Rutnam would not only be sacked he’d be denied a pension.’
But a Home Office source told the newspaper: ‘Sir Philip and [Ms Patel] have fundamental disagreements about the rule of law. He’s committed and she isn’t.
‘She’s belittled him and caused consternation, and she frequently encourages behaviour outside the rule of law.’
It was claimed that bubbling tensions came to a head last week when a senior official 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.
At a meeting the following morning he was allegedly confronted by the Home Secretary, who demanded to know why the department had failed to reverse the ruling.
He reportedly fell ill later during another meeting and was taken to hospital, where he was found to have a sodium deficiency.
Ms Patel replaced Sajid Javid as Home Secretary in July 2019, becoming the first ethnic minority woman to hold the office.
The allegations came after Ms Patel set out the details of the government’s proposed post-Brexit immigration system.
Ms Patel yesterday defended the government’s proposed crackdown on low-skilled foreign migrants coming to the UK as she said it was ‘about time’ British businesses focused on investing in UK workers
LBC presenter Nick Ferrari, who is of Italian descent, said to her: ‘The side of my family on my father’s side were in catering, so I don’t know if I would actually be in this country under these rules. Would you, with your parents?’
She yesterday admitted her own Ugandan Asian parents would have been stopped from settling in the UK under the new Australian-style points-based system which will be implemented at the start of next year.
Ms Patel said the system would result in a fall in net migration to the UK.
But the 47-year-old, who was born in London to Ugandan Asian parents of Gujarati descent, admitted they would not have made the cut were the system in place in the 1960s.
LBC presenter Nick Ferrari, who is of Italian heritage, said to her: ‘The side of my family on my father’s side were in catering, so I don’t know if I would actually be in this country under these rules. Would you, with your parents?’
She replied: ‘This isn’t about my background or my parents.’
He pressed her again, highlighting her family background – her parents came to the UK in the 60s and set up a newsagent chain – saying: ‘But you wouldn’t be here, Home Secretary.’
At that point, she said: ‘Yeah, but also let’s not forget we are not changing our approach to refugees and asylum seekers, which is very different to a points-based system for employment and that particular route.’
Ms Patel has previously said her parents ‘were kicked out of Uganda’ and ‘came to the UK with nothing, worked hard and set up a successful shop business’.
The terms of the government’s post-Brexit border control system have sparked business concerns amid fears of a worker shortage.
The new arrangements will make it almost impossible for low-skilled workers to come to the UK.
But the government is adamant that companies must wean themselves off cheap foreign labour and invest more in British workers.