Daily Mail - 03.03.2020

Page 13

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Woman ‘tried to kill herself before filing

complaint about minister’s behaviour’

about bullying allegations relating

to Miss Patel in her current role as

Home Secretary. The inquiry will

examine whether she has breached

the ministerial code following

claims that she mistreated staff.

Announcing the probe yesterday,

Michael Gove said she denied the

claims and was a ‘superb minister

doing a great job’.

B o r i s J o h n s o n h a s a l r e a d y

offered his support, describing her

as a ‘fantastic home secretary’

after her top official Sir Philip Rut-

nam resigned from his role after

accusing her of belittling staff.

Tory MPs have also rallied to her

defence, comparing her to Marga-

ret Thatcher and accusing her

opponents of ‘smears and sexism’.

Last night’s fresh allegations how-

ever, threaten to overshadow their

support. According to the BBC, a

f o r m e r a i d e t o M i s s P a t e l

attempted suicide after making a

formal complaint about her while

they worked at the Department

for Work and Pensions.

The BBC said it had seen the

Miss Patel was a minister. She also

alleged she was told the decision

to dismiss her a year later was not

based on her performance but

because Miss Patel did not ‘like

[her] face’, according to com-

ments attributed to her line man-

ager and a colleague.

On that day in October 2015,

Miss Patel had shouted at the

woman in her private office and

told her to ‘get lost’ and ‘get out of

her face’, the correspondence was

said to have alleged.

Miss Patel was described as hav-

ing acted ‘without warning’ and

with an ‘unprovoked level of

aggression’, in the woman’s formal

grievance complaint. Shortly after,

the staff member allegedly took an

Daily Mail, Tuesday, March 3, 2020 QQQ

Gove did one of his

‘there’s nothing

to see here’ turns

F

OR 45 minutes yesterday after-

noon Jeremy Corbyn slouched

on Labour’s front bench gazing

at his telephone. What deserved

such attention was unclear, but

whatever it was it had him transfixed

with wide-eyed wonder.

It was like watching a Japanese snow

monkey marvelling at a tourist’s iPhone

for the first time.

Mr Corbyn had come to raise an Urgent

Question concerning last week’s resigna-

tion of Home Office mandarin Sir Philip

Rutnam after he accused Home Secretary

Priti Patel of bullying. But he might as well

have taken the afternoon off.

The Tories are already a chancellor down,

here was a chance for Corbyn to make them

look mighty silly. Naturally, he flunked it.

He began his speech noisily but this did

not last long. He huffed and puffed, but hard

as he tried he just couldn’t seem to muster

the requisite anger. Indeed, he seemed more

irritated that the Prime Minister hadn’t

bothered to show up. Had he known, Cor-

byn might have ordered someone else to

table the question. Cabinet Office minister

Michael Gove was the man sent to throw a

fire blanket over the affair. The Home Secre-

tary ‘ab-sol-ute-ly rejects these allegations,’

he said, his finger delicately drumming the

dispatch box as he delivered another of his

masterful ‘nothing to see here’ turns. She

was a ‘superb minister doing a great job’.

Gove reiterated the need for the Civil

Service and the Government to work

together, which provoked a sarcastic

chuckle from John McDonnell. Just hours

later it would emerge that a former aide of

Miss Patel had claimed to have attempted

suicide after alleged bullying.

Back in the Commons, Corbyn had zoned

out, wiggling his feet impatiently and toy-

ing with his phone. Beside him was Diane

Abbott, similarly glum and disengaged.

Occasionally, they would converse out of

the corners of their mouths like two old

dears on Blackpool beach in rolled up-trou-

sers, contemplating when to crack in to the

egg sandwiches.

O

N the other side of Corbyn was his

education spokesman, Angela

Rayner, shouting, jabbing and

challenging Gove at every junc-

ture. How Labour could use a leader with

some of her energy.

From the Government benches there

came a steady gush of support for the Home

Secretary. Julian Lewis (Con, New Forest

E) pondered how Margaret Thatcher might

have coped had she been subjected to the

same smears and sexism aimed at ‘the cur-

rent Iron Lady in the Home Office’. There

were queries as to what actually constitutes

bullying these days. Martin Vickers (Con,

Cleethorpes) pointed out that it’s now too

often used to describe what were once

known as ‘robust exchanges’. Gove agreed,

citing former Labour chancellor Denis Hea-

ley as ‘no shrinking violet’ in such matters.

Others questioned if voters really cared

about Westminster spats. Dehenna Davison

(Con, Bishop Auckland) said her constitu-

ents just wanted to see the Home Office’s

immigration policy implemented.

There was fitting discussion about

Labour’s own record under Corbyn when it

came to bullying. Mark Francois (Con,

Rayleigh & Wickford) suggested Corbyn

‘remove the plank from his eye’ after his fail-

ure to tackle anti-Semitism within his party.

‘You’re the bully,’ he shouted. Siobhan Bail-

lie (Con, Stroud) suggested the Government

shouldn’t be subjected to stones being

thrown ‘from the glass homes opposite’.

But the punchiest intervention came from

Tim Loughton (Con, E Worthing and Shore-

ham) who accused Labour of remaining

silent for years under the ‘industrial-scale

bullying’ of John Bercow when he was

Speaker, yet the moment allegations arise

which involve ‘a strong woman who does

not curry favour with their stereotype’ they

go bananas. Suddenly, Corbyn’s face was

momentarily distracted from his telephone.

‘Oh, come on,’ he groaned.

For a moment I thought he might try to

attract an intervention from the Speaker.

He paused and wrinkled his nose, before

thinking better of it and returning to that

ruddy telephone screen.

By hjhj hjjh

hjhjjh Correspondent

Damaging allegations: Priti

Patel yesterday after the

fresh claims emerged

Priti aide’s £25k payout

‘over claims of bully ing’

overdose of prescription medica-

tion in the office and lay with her

head on the desk for some time.

She was then said to have become

unresponsive and her partner was

called by a colleague to collect her

as she was unable to walk.

The woman then took a further

overdose at home in what was

apparently described as an attempt

to kill herself and was rushed to

hospital where she apparently

spent the night in resuscitation.

A settlement was reached in

2017 for £25,000 after the member

of staff threatened to bring a

legal claim of bullying, harass-

ment and discrimination on the

grounds of race and disability

against the department, includ-

ing Miss Patel who is directly

named, the BBC reported.

Last night, a source close to Miss

Patel said: ‘The Home Secretary

rejects all the allegations that

have been made against her.’

A Government spokesman said

they would not comment ‘on indi-

vidual personnel matters’.

A FORMER aide to Priti

Patel accused the then

employment minister of

bullying and harassing her

after taking an overdose, it

was alleged last night.

T h e w o m a n r e c e i v e d a

£25,000 payout from the Gov-

ernment after allegedly filing a

formal complaint against Miss

Patel when she was dismissed

from her role.

However, the BBC said it had

seen legal correspondence alleging

that the woman took an overdose

of prescription medicine following

the alleged incident in 2015.

Ultimately, the Department for

Work and Pensions did not admit

liability and the case did not come

before a tribunal. The twist came

as the Prime Minister announced

an inquiry to ‘establish the facts’

By Claire Ellicott

Political Correspondent

‘Unprovoked level

of aggression’

Picture: PETER MACDIARMID/LNP

staff member’s grievance letter

alleging that she had previously

attempted to kill herself after

reporting similar allegations of

workplace bullying concerning

another individual in 2014 – before