Home secretary Priti Patel is facing fresh accusations of bullying behaviour, as former ministers and civil servants allege “aggressive” and “vile” conduct when she was in charge of the Department for International Development (Dfid).
It comes as MPs warned Boris Johnson’s government not to water down a report into the Windrush scandal after it was reported a section branding the Home Office “institutionally racist” was stripped out.
Meanwhile, a leading British music body has claimed the government’s immigration crackdown will “cut the legs off” the £111bn creative arts industry, while a senior Tory MP has hit out at Dominic Cummings for his “brutal” attack on the BBC.
‘There seems to be a nasty streak’: Tory MP speaks out against Cummings
A senior Tory MP has hit out at Dominic Cummings for his “brutal” attack on the BBC and accused him of having a “nasty streak” that will backfire on the party.
Huw Merriman, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on the BBC, attacked what he called “ideological trench warfare” against the corporation, in a recent No 10 briefing.
An unnamed adviser vowed to “whack” the BBC by abolishing the licence fee and forcing it to sell off many TV and radio stations – an attack widely attributed to Cummings.
Merriman told The House magazine: “Where I get concerned is the somewhat brutal way behind [his methods]. So the BBC is a good example of that … there seems to be a sort of nasty streak behind some of these briefings.”
He questioned why No 10 had to be “so divisive in the tone and language”.
The Tory MP added: “I just don’t think it’s going to end well.”
Dominic Cummings criticised by Tory MP for ‘brutal’ attack on BBC
‘There seems to be a sort of nasty streak behind some of these briefings ... I just don’t think it’s going to end well’Immigration changes will ‘cut the legs off’ UK bands, industry claims
The government’s immigration crackdown will “cut the legs off” the British UK music industry, a leading body has claimed – warning artists will be forced to cancel tours and small venues put in jeopardy.
The Incorporated Society of Musicians said the Home Office has turned its back on the creative arts worth £111bn a year to the economy – similar to banking – and refused to listen to its pleas for help.
“Enormous” numbers of bands from EU countries will be shut out by the huge cost and frightening bureaucracy of performing, dealing a hammer blow to the venues that host them, it said.
And UK artists will also feel the pain if Brussels slaps similar restrictions on tours to EU countries, in the post-Brexit trade talks.
“This is taking a shotgun and shooting ourselves in the foot,” the Society’s furious chief executive, Deborah Annetts, told The Independent.
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Priti Patel warned her immigration crackdown will 'cut the legs off' the UK music industry
Home Office accused of refusing to listen to a £111bn-a-year businessHome secretary hit by fresh bullying claims
Priti Patel is facing more allegations of bullying behaviour – a “pattern” according to one official – after she is thought to have attempted ousting the Home Office’s permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam.
Former ministers and civil servants have alleged “aggressive” and “vile” conduct when she was in charge of the Department for International Development (Dfid).
An ex-Dfid minister told The Times: “Is it a one-off? No it bloody isn’t. It’s her. It is exactly the same pattern of behaviour she showed when she was at Dfid.”
“She had team meetings where she would deliberately dress officials down in front of their colleagues … She persistently went over that line.”
Another official told the newspaper: “She was reviled in Dfid for her rudeness and insensitivity. She could not have been more hated for the way she treated people. She was just vile.”
Complaints were also reportedly made when Patel was at the Department for Work and Pensions between 2015 and 2016.
After briefings about the performance of Home Office staff from her allies on Thursday, the FDA civil service waded into the row – warning ministers against creating “an atmosphere of fear” in their departments.
Windrush draft report branding Home Office ‘institutionally racist’ was ‘watered down’, officials claim
A warning not to water down a review into the Windrush scandal has been issued after it was reported a portion branding the Home Office “institutionally racist” was stripped out.
The delayed independent review was commissioned after people with a right to live in the UK were wrongfully detained or deported.
The Times reported sources saying the phrase “institutionally racist” was included in an earlier draft of the Windrush review led by inspector of constabulary Wendy Williams, but had subsequently been removed.
Labour MP David Lammy demanded that the “truth must be published in full”.
He added: “The victims’ nationality and rights were denied because of the colour of their skin. If this is not institutionally racist I have no idea what is. It would be an outrage and an insult to the Windrush generation for Wendy Williams’ independent review to be watered down for political reasons.”
Windrush draft 'branding Home Office institutionally racist was watered down'
'The victims' nationality and rights were denied because of the colour of their skin,' says Labour MP David LammyGood morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond.
