Boris Johnson’s Government Rocked by U.K. Home Office Crisis

(Bloomberg) --

Boris Johnson’s government was thrown into fresh turmoil after a senior U.K. official resigned and launched an unprecedented attack on one of the prime minister’s most powerful allies.

In a dramatic statement on Saturday, Philip Rutnam quit as the top civil servant at the Home Office, the department that runs counter-terrorism, policing and immigration policy, and accused his immediate boss -- Home Secretary Priti Patel -- of orchestrating a briefing campaign against him.

Patel has previously denied any involvement in negative media stories about Rutnam, but he accused her of lying and creating a climate of fear for staff working in her ministry. Patel is a key member of Johnson’s team and campaigned alongside him for Brexit during the 2016 referendum. On a visit to Public Health England in north London, the prime minister expressed his admiration for the Civil Service and his support for Patel.

“I absolutely do have confidence in Priti Patel,” Johnson said. “I think she is a fantastic Home Secretary. It is one of the toughest jobs in Government.”

Rutnam’s public attack on the home secretary -- he is suing the government for constructive dismissal -- puts her position in danger. It also damages further the reputation of Johnson’s administration at a critical time, just two days before the U.K. begins negotiating its new relationship with the European Union.

Patel’s department has only 10 months to prepare and implement a new post-Brexit immigration regime and the loss of its most senior official threatens to throw those plans into disarray.

Power Struggles

Johnson’s government is fast gaining a reputation for internal power struggles, bullying and crises in personnel management, despite the fact that he commands the political landscape after winning a large majority in last December’s election. Rutnam’s exit comes just two weeks after Sajid Javid quit as finance minister following a catastrophic breakdown in relations with the premier.

“When you get a civil servant go public like this, it’s unprecedented,” John McDonnell, economy spokesman for the opposition Labour Party, said on Sky News on Sunday. “Within a couple of months he’s lost his chancellor and now it looks like he’s going to lose his home secretary as well. That says something about Boris Johnson’s own abilities and management of his own government.”

The U.K. media has been awash with reports of the split between Rutnam and Patel. The department published a joint statement from the minister and Rutnam last week denouncing the “false allegations.”

In an emotional statement to television cameras in the rain on Saturday, Rutnam blamed Patel for “a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign” against him. He denied speaking to the media against Patel.

“The Home Secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign,” Rutnam said. “I regret, I do not believe her. She has not made the efforts I would expect to dissociate herself with the comments.”

Patel’s office declined to comment on Saturday. “I have received and accepted with great regret the resignation of Sir Philip Rutnam,” Mark Sedwill, cabinet secretary and head of the U.K. civil service, said in a short statement.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock declined to discuss the case on the BBC’s Andrew Marr program on Sunday due to the legal case, but defended Patel’s record in her role.

“She is probably closer to where the public are on the issues of law and order than any home secretary in recent history,” he said. “She drives things forwards. I also think she’s extremely courteous.”

The row over bullying in the Home Office has intensified in recent weeks. Patel was forced to deny allegations that she berated civil servants and was reported to have been furious about reports in the media that she was not trusted by the country’s MI5 security service.

Johnson now faces demands to investigate Rutnam’s allegations against Patel. The row shows “a shocking level of breakdown in the normal functioning of government,” said Yvette Cooper, chair of Parliament’s home affairs committee. “For the home secretary and prime minister to have allowed things to reach this point is appalling, especially at a time when the Home Office faces crucial challenges.”

Cooper called on Johnson and his officials to investigate the claims against Patel in order to “get a grip of this mess quickly” and allow the Home Office to function properly again.

--With assistance from Lucy Meakin.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net;Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin, Paul Abelsky

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