THE Westminster storm surrounding Home Secretary Priti Patel has intensified with the resignation of her chief civil servant, who alleged she belittled colleagues and led a "vicious and orchestrated" briefing campaign against him.
Philip Rutnam's departure as permanent secretary comes after a series of clashes with the divisive figure, who is said to be "absolutely livid" about allegations that she bullied staff and is distrusted by spymasters.
READ MORE: Philip Rutnam: Top Home Office civil servant resigns from role
Patel is no stranger to controversy and her return to Government as Home Secretary when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in 2019 raised eyebrows due to the manner of her departure from Cabinet in 2017. She had been forced to quit Theresa May's Cabinet after having a series of unofficial meetings with the Israeli government.
This morning Rutnam said he would sue the Government for "constructive dismissal" after a 33-year long career.
He wrote critically of Patel after reports of tensions between the two earlier this week.
Read the damning statement in full below.
*******************************************************************
"I have this morning resigned as permanent secretary of the Home Office.
"I take this decision with great regret after a career of 33 years.
"I am making this statement now because I will be issuing a claim against the Home Office for constructive dismissal.
"In the last 10 days, I have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign.
"It has been alleged that I have briefed the media against the home secretary.
"This - along with many other claims - is completely false.
"The home secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the Cabinet Office.
"I regret I do not believe her.
"She has not made the efforts I would expect to dissociate herself from the comments.
"Even despite this campaign I was willing to effect a reconciliation with the Home Secretary, as requested by the cabinet secretary on behalf of the Prime Minister.
"But despite my efforts to engage with her, Priti Patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this.
"I believe that these events give me very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal - and I will be pursuing that claim in the courts.
"My experience has been extreme but I consider that there is evidence that it is part of a wider pattern of behaviour.
"One of my duties as permanent secretary was to protect the health, safety and well-being of our 35,000 people.
"This created tension with the Home Secretary, and I have encouraged her to change her behaviours.
"I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands - behaviour that created fear and that needed some bravery to call out.
"I know that resigning in this way will have very serious implications for me personally. The Cabinet Office offered me a financial settlement that would have avoided this outcome.
"I am aware that there will continue to be briefing against me now I have made this decision, but I am hopeful that at least it may not now be directed to my colleagues or the department.
"This has been a very difficult decision but I hope that my stand may help in maintaining the quality of government in our country, which includes hundreds of thousands of civil servants loyally dedicated to delivering this government's agenda.
"I will make no further comment at this stage."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel