Columnists 21:56 GMT 22. 11. 2020 (updated 23:24 GMT 22. 2020) Get short URL 2 37 4 Anyone surprised by BoJo's decision to condone shameful bullying at the heart of his government and order a "square" of defence be formed "around the prittster" after he decided to keep Priti Patel in his cabinet despite her being found guilty of breaching the Ministerial Code and bullying, has plainly been sleeping over the past eleven months. That period has exposed the rancid hypocrisy, corruption, cronyism, and lack of integrity which characterises Johnson and the Tories under his leadership. Priti Patel was accused of disgraceful conduct and bullying while an employment Minister under Theresa May in 2015, behaviour which drove a female civil servant to attempt suicide on at least two occasions and ended with a Department of Work and Pensions pay-out of £25, 000 in April 2017 to avoid the scrutiny of an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal, harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. Patel the Bully Became Patel the Liar Patel was then moved to the role of International Secretary only to be found out as a devious liar whom May had to sack after her deliberate misleading of the PM and Parliament over secret meetings with Israeli officials, business representatives and lobbyists was exposed.
Johnson was determined to "form a square around the prittster" to defend his lying bully Patel at the Home Office but didn't lift a finger to defend thousands of pensioners in care homes. That is the warped and putrid priorities which define this government. A Litany of Government Failures but No Resignations Their top advisor broke lockdown rules but there was no resignation. They have been caught awarding contracts worth over £20 billion of public money without proper scrutiny or tendering processes to friends of senior Tories and companies known to donate to the Tory party and no one has resigned. The UK government's late response to Covid-19 and failure to impose lockdown measures caused the unnecessary deaths of 20, 000 but no one resigned from government. International law will be broken because of the government's Internal Market Bill but no one resigns. The Johnson government backs bullies, liars, public contract cheats and international law breaking. It is morally repugnant and thoroughly incompetent.
However the report that was compiled was laid on Johnson's desk in April and he refused to act on it for months before recently contacting the author, Sir Alex Allan, and leaning on him to water down the conclusions. Despite the limited access to witnesses the investigation still found Priti Patel "shouted and swore" at staff in actions "that can be described as bullying" and that she had indeed breached the Ministerial Code which is normally an automatic resignation offence. The fact Sir Alex Allan, former chair of the prestigious Joint Intelligence Committee, chose to resign rather than alter his report to save Patel's reputation is admirable, but the full report is being kept secret. It must be revealed in full and the fact it was severely handicapped by the barring of access to Rutman's input must also be highlighted. Johnson Willing to Protect Patel but not Pensioners in Care Homes Patel was ordered to issue an apology on camera on Friday but all it did was rub salt in the wounds of the campaign against bullying as she smugly smirked and smiled when she claimed no knowledge of bullying but apologised anyway.
Please watch and remember - her conduct drove a lowly paid civil servant to attempt suicide on two occasions and compelled a very senior civil servant to resign. The lack of contrition for her actions and empathy for her victims is truly frightening. If Johnson and his Tory gang of millionaires and spivs showed an iota of the concern and commitment to defend elderly care residents as they have shown to defend lying bully Patel at least 20, 000 lives could have been saved. A shocking report compiled by Amnesty International last month received very little media attention but condemned the Tory Covid19 response as a dereliction of duty and care towards elderly citizens. Read the document and understand just how complicit this Tory government is in the deaths of thousands of senior citizens. It presents evidence that the government's policy of herd immunity was responsible for mass murder. The government was entirely aware of the probable outcome of their policy and went ahead regardless of the risk to thousands of lives.