Priti Patel news – live: Boris Johnson refuses to sack home secretary as bullying report partly released

Unions have slammed a pay freeze for school staff and police – among other public sector workers – expected to be announced, with education leaders saying it would be a “slap in the face”, writes Zoe Tidman.

The National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales said this move would be “morally bankrupt” in light of the “sacrifices” public sector workers have made during the coronavirus pandemic, and years of pay freezes.

Lord O’Donnell says Priti Patel should have resigned following the conclusions of the bullying report.

The former cabinet secretary told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “Every minister – it’s their responsibility to obey the ministerial code.

“The prime minister thinks there has been no breach of the ministerial code. I, personally, take the judgment of Alex Allan that actually there was a breach of the ministerial code.

“For something like bullying, I think in that case – it’s a bit like what would happen in the private sector, you just wouldn’t, and within the civil service, there are things like this, you would just say that’s just beyond the pale.”

An updated profile of the home secretary.

The defining feature of Priti Patel isn’t so much that she is (in her own terms), a “massive Thatcherite”, though she is; nor that she is an exemplar of the benefits of migration, though she is that too; not even that she’s what you might call a “massive bully” stomping around every department she’s occupied yelling things like “why is everyone so f***ing useless?”.

No, none of those are the defining thing, though are part of the portrait, writes Sean O’Grady. Rather, the key to understanding our home secretary is that she is just plain wacky. Know that and it all makes a kind of sense.

Covid-19, Grenfell, climate collapse, Brexit, and corruption are all instances that demonstrate there has never been a more desperate need for a united and bold Labour Party willing to hold the government to account and to make the case for a radical alternative to a broken status quo, writes Andrew Scattergood.

But we are a long way from that now. Yesterday, on the same day that we learnt that firms with political connections to the Conservative government were ten times more likely to win lucrative public sector contracts, Keir Starmer decided to remove the whip from Jeremy Corbyn.

Nicola Sturgeon is facing questions over draft regulations that make it illegal to enter or leave Scotland without a reasonable excuse, writes Kate Devlin.  

The restrictions, brought in to deal with the coronavirus crisis, affect England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the Common Travel Area.  

Tough rules on travel within Scotland will also come into force at 6pm.  

No 10 says it is unlikely to release the full report into Priti Patel’s conduct, in order to protect the people who gave evidence.

Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “We’ve published the summary of the findings this morning but obviously, in order to protect the confidentiality of participants in the exercise, it wouldn’t be right or proper to publish any details that would be able to identify them.”

Asked whether Mr Johnson had pre-judged the findings of the report by offering Ms Patel his backing in March, the spokesperson said: “We wouldn’t accept that.”

The prime minister’s adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Alex Allan, has resigned after Boris Johnson ruled that Priti Patel should not lose her job over bullying allegations, writes Andrew Woodcock.

The shock resignation came after Mr Johnson overruled  the independent adviser’s finding that Ms Patel breached the requirements of the ministerial code of conduct by shouting and swearing at civil servants in the Home Office.

The report found that the home secretary’s behaviour towards staff on some occasions met the civil service definition of bullying as “intimidating or insulting behaviour that makes an individual feel uncomfortable, frightened, less respected or put down”.

Priti Patel has apologised for her bullying behaviour and admitted to becoming “frustrated” while dealing with her colleagues.

She said in a statement: “I am sorry that my behaviour in the past has upset people. It has never been my intention to cause upset to anyone.”

“I am very grateful for the hard work of thousands of civil servants who help to deliver the government’s agenda.

“I care deeply about delivering on the commitments we have made to the people of this country and I acknowledge that I am direct and have at times got frustrated.  

”I would like to thank the prime minister for his support.

“The permanent secretary and I are working closely together to deliver on the vital job the Home Office has to do for the country.”

Keir Starmer says he would have sacked Priti Patel if he were in Boris Johnson’s position.

In a statement, the Labour leader said workers in other jobs would not escape sanction for the sort of behaviour described in the bullying report.

Sir Keir said: “Yet again, the prime minister has been found wanting when his leadership has been tested. If I were prime minister, the home secretary would have been removed from her job.

“It is hard to imagine another workplace in the UK where this behaviour would be condoned by those at the top.

“The government should be setting an example. Instead, it is one rule for Boris Johnson and his friends, another for everyone else.

“The prime minister has previously said he ‘loathes bullying’. Yet when one of his own ministers is found to have bullied their staff he ignores the damning report sat on his desk and instead protects them.

“In the interest of transparency, the report into Priti Patel’s conduct and any drafts should now be fully published and the prime minister and home secretary should come to the House on Monday to face questions on their conduct.”

Labour and the Liberal Democrats disagree with Boris Johnson’s decision to leave Priti Patel in post, as you might expect.

 Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, tweeted: “Priti Patel has broken the Ministerial Code, the PM should have sacked her.

“It’s the PM’s job to set an example, but once again Johnson has failed. He seems to believe there is one rule for him and his friends and another rule for everyone else. Totally unacceptable.”

And David Lammy, the shadow justice secretary, tweeted: “Boris Johnson condoning bullying by keeping pritipatel in post despite his advisor’s resignation is another spineless, hypocritical and pathetic failure of leadership. Once again it’s one rule for the Conservatives and another for everyone else.”