‘False MI5 claims' a concern for Priti Patel

Home Secretary Priti Patel has been hit by claims that she is distrusted by intelligence chiefs and has bullied her Home Office staff.

Patel and her colleagues have quickly dismissed claims that she is bullying officials, with the Home Secretary urging for an inquiry into a series of damaging leaks about her approach in the department.

A report in the Sunday Times alleged that intelligence chiefs do not trust Patel and have decided to share less intelligence with her than they have with her predecessors. MI5 has also rejected the claims that its officials are withholding information from Patel because they do not trust her.

The newspaper quoted unnamed officials claiming that MI5 found Patel ‘extremely difficult to deal with’ and that she ‘doesn’t grasp the subtleties of intelligence’.

A Home office spokesman said: “The home secretary and permanent secretary are deeply concerned about the number of false allegations appearing in the media. They are focused on delivering on the Home Office’s hugely important agenda, which includes creating an immigration system that works for the UK, putting more police on the streets and keeping the public safe from terrorism.”

Patel has been Home Secretary since July last year having previously served as Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. She was forced to resign from this role in Theresa May’s government after it emerged that she had failed to tell the Prime Minister about a series of meetings she had had with Israeli ministers while she was visiting the country for what was supposed to be a holiday.