The First Division Association (FDA), a union for senior civil servants wants the High Court to overturn prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision to exonerate home secretary Priti Patel amid allegations of bullying that were previously within her department. In a written submission, FDA general secretary Dave Penman told the High Court that “civil servants should expect to work with ministers without fear of being bullied or harassed” and that Johnson’s actions had “fundamentally undermined” the disciplinary proce
Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Rutnam had resigned last year as the senior-most civil servant in the Home Office blame after blaming Patel. He is separately pursuing a claim against the department through the employment tribunal.
Meanwhile, a Cabinet Office probe into whether Patel had breached the ministerial code concluded last year with the finding that she was in breach, albeit “unintentionally”. While ministers are expected to resign if they are found in breach of the code, it ultimately rests with the prime minister on whether to take any action on an independent Ministerial Code adviser’s findings.
Boris Johnson, had declared previously that he had “full confidence” in Priti Patel even as Sir Alex Allan, the independent adviser on the Ministerial Code, tendered his resignation following that decision.
“I recognise that it is for the prime minister to make a judgement on whether actions by a minister amount to a breach of the Ministerial Code. But I feel that it is right that I should now resign from my position as the prime minister’s independent adviser on the Code,” read Allan’s statement at the time.
Now, the FDA union has decided to take the issue further by seeking a judicial review of the UK prime minister’s decision. According to BBC News, the FDA claims that if the UK PM’s decision was not “corrected” by the court, “his interpretation of the Ministerial Code will result in that document failing to protect workplace standards across government”.
Priti Patel has rejected all allegations against her, while her supporters claimed she had been the victim of a smear campaign.
