Boris Johnson drove his own ethics adviser to quit on Friday as he ripped up the rulebook by refusing to sack Priti Patel despite a formal investigation finding evidence that she bullied civil servants. Johnson seized on that caveat, seemingly dismissing the report, by insisting he judged the code had not been breached – and he had full confidence in Patel. The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, said: “If I were prime minister, the home secretary would have been removed from her job. Johnson’s new press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said of the prime minister: “He loathes bullying. “The issues raised by Sir Alex Allan’s inquiry are extremely serious, and his resignation in the light of the prime minister’s response makes them doubly so.

Source: The Guardian November 20, 2020 11:53 UTC