Conservative Party allies of Priti Patel have accused civil servants of colluding with the Labour Party to perpetuate allegations of bullying in an attempt to oust the home secretary.
Ms Patel has been accused of bullying Whitehall staff whilst she was working at the Department for International Development, the Department for Work and Pensions, and in her current role as head of the Home Office.
On Tuesday, the spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn claimed that civil servants had been coming to the Labour leader’s office directly with complaints about the Brexiteer Tory. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a robust defence of his colleague, saying in comments directed at the Labour Party during Prime Minister’s Questions: “I’m sticking by her.”
“I loathe bullying, but I am not taking any lessons from a party that has presided over systematic bullying and discrimination against those who stick up for the Jewish community and for Israel in this country, and we still have yet to hear a proper apology from the Labour party or from the Labour leadership for what they have done,” he added.
The home secretary denies the allegations, and allies of Ms Patel fear that a Cabinet Office inquiry could turn into a “witch hunt”. A source close to the Cabinet minister told The Telegraph: “If you look at any allegations that have been made up until now, that is fine. If you open it up to allegations you end up with a witch hunt because any civil servant who doesn’t like her will just come forward.”
The growing attacks on the minister’s alleged conduct have also resulted in defences from senior members of the party. Former party leader Iain Duncan Smith, who along with Patel and Johnson was part of the Vote Leave campaign, said: “This is a political attempt to oust a Cabinet minister. It has nothing to do with her running of the department.
“Priti has become a pawn in the game between disgruntled Leftist civil servants who are now using this to try to weaken the Government and its determination.”
Fellow Brexiteer and former Cabinet minister Liam Fox said: “It is now clear a small proportion [of civil servants] have abandoned any attempt at impartiality. The Cabinet Secretary needs to act to restore the integrity of the service.
“There is a malicious and highly politicised minority who seem to be cooperating with a Labour Party who seem to have abandoned ethics altogether.”
Breitbart London’s James Delingpole wrote on Wednesday that the rumours have been perpetuated by the “left-leaning Remainer Deep State” in an attempt to oust one of the most solid conservatives in Boris’s government. He wrote:
This is a battle the government has to win. If it loses, what’s left of its credibility will be shredded for it will have shown itself to be powerless against the Deep State.
…
…The voters who gave Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority did not do so in order to buoy up the overmanned, overpaid, self-serving Civil Service — not least because that Civil Service is full of people who think that Brexit voters are ignorant, fascistic thickos.
Reports today suggest that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ‘sticking by’ Priti Patel (who, symbolically, sat next to him on the government benches). Boris is not stupid; his chief advisor Dominic Cummings even less so: lose this one and they lose the entire game.
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