Inside Politics: Priti Patel has ‘pattern’ of poor behaviour, officials claim

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Great Scott – they’ve only gone and made a Back to the Future musical! The Oedipal sci-fi adventure had its premiere in Manchester last night. Boris Johnson and his maverick sidekick Dominic Cummings must wish they could set the clock on the DeLorean to 12 December 2019 and head back to the night of their big election triumph. With time travel not really an option – unless Cummings hires the right kind of weirdo – the pair are stuck in 2020, dealing with a huge bust-up at the Home Office and claims of a Windrush cover-up. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown is giving a speech in Newcastle today on his favourite subject – devolution and the future of the union. It comes as the IPPR think tank releases a report urging No 10 to back more devolution across England. Meanwhile Foreign Office officials will be kept busy as dozens of Britons who have been trapped on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship are set to fly home on Friday after the government sent a plane to repatriate them.

Daily briefing

PRITI PATTERNS: You knew there would be more, didn’t you? Priti Patel is facing more allegations of bullying behaviour – a “pattern” according to one official – after she attempted to remove Home Office’s permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam. Former ministers and civil servants have alleged “aggressive” and “vile” conduct when she was in charge of the Department for International Development (Dfid). An ex-Dfid minister told The Times: “Is it a one-off? No it bloody isn’t. It’s her. It is exactly the same pattern of behaviour she showed when she was at Dfid.” Another official said: “She could not have been more hated for the way she treated people.” After briefings about the performance of Home Office staff from her allies, the FDA civil service union waded in – warning ministers against creating “an atmosphere of fear” in their departments. Business minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was all a misunderstanding: Priti is actually really sweet once you get to know her. “She is a brilliant, collegiate team player,” he said.

JOY OF BRUTALISM: Question: when does fresh air come with a nasty, brutal stench? Answer: when Dominic Cummings walks in the door. Influential Tory MP Huw Merriman – chair of the Transport Select Committee and head of the all-party group on the BBC – offered the No 10 strategist-enforcer a bit of praise, telling The House magazine he’s been a “breath of fresh air”. Complaining about the anonymous Downing Street attacks on the BBC, Merriman added: “Where I get concerned is the somewhat brutal way behind [his methods] … There seems to be a sort of nasty streak behind some of these briefings.” Others think the recent, anonymised back-biting about the great Cummings must stop. Lord Blencathra, former Tory chief whip, said: “Ministers should shut up about Cummings. Not a single one of those whingeing about him would be ministers without him … He is a genius, and our majority is largely due to him.”

RED PEN REDACTIONS: It’s fairly remarkable how often this government and “racism” are mentioned in the same sentence. A warning not to “water down” a review into the Windrush scandal has been issued after it was claimed a portion of the report describing the Home Office as “institutionally racist” was stripped out. Sources told The Times damaging phrases like that have been removed. Labour MP David Lammy said it would be “an insult to the Windrush generation for [the report] to be watered down for political reasons”. The least popular department in Whitehall is in the spotlight over yet more deportations. A charter flight attempting to remove more than a dozen asylum seekers thought to be victims of modern slavery was halted on Thursday after lawyers managed to win a last-minute reprieve. The Independent has learned at least 16 people taken off charter flight after the Home Office failed to act on indicators the individuals had been victims of torture and exploitation.

STANDING IN THE SHADOW: Jeremy Corbyn’s allotment might have to wait a bit longer for full-time care. The departing Labour leader told the BBC he would consider a shadow cabinet role if asked by his successor, saying he would be “happy to serve the party in any capacity”. Rebecca Long-Bailey – who “loves him so” and fancies giving him a job – will be delighted. John McDonnell, who has promised to head off to the backbenches, managed to anger Jewish groups after visiting Julian Assange at HMP Belmarsh. The shadow chancellor is convinced the WikiLeaks founder is a heroic whistleblower and called his extradition “the Dreyfus case of our age” (referring to the 1895 conviction of French officer Alfred Dreyfus – exonerated after treason charges brought against him because he was Jewish). The Jewish Labour Movement said it was “an absolutely ridiculous and offensive thing to say.” Tony Blair, meanwhile, managed to anger transgender rights group. The former PM said Labour would lose a culture war with the right if it makes trans rights “our big thing”.

WHY’D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHY YOU’RE HUAWEI? Despite his rural retreat at Chevening, Boris Johnson is still doing difficult, crappy work – like speaking to Donald Trump on the telephone. According to Downing Street, the pair discussed “bilateral issues” blah blah blah – but studiously avoided the topic of Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network. The US president, said to have turned “apoplectic” the last time they spoke, has not forgotten about the Chinese tech giant, however. Senior White House adviser Mick Mulvaney met top government officials at Downing Street on Thursday, and made clear the Trump administration hopes the Johnson administration will think again. A source told The Telegraph: “The Americans impressed upon us that the free trade agreement is going to have to be part of this Huawei discussion.” No 10 denies the trade talks are linked to the 5G pow-wow.

On the record

“I don’t want to damage anyone by supporting them so ... I am not going to give an opinion on which candidate.”

Tony Blair appears well aware of his own toxic brand.

From the Twitterati

“Astonishing expose of Priti Patel. This should not have to be said but @patel4witham if you don't respect the rule of law you are unfit to run the Home Office.”

Labour MP David Lammy questions Patel’s fitness for high office amid bullying allegations...

“Can someone, anyone, please tell me what qualifies @patel4witham to be Home Secretary of the UK ... She was sacked by @theresa_may for good reason.”

...while the SNP’s Ian Blackford questions her record as a minister previously sacked for lying.

Essential reading

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Is Tony Blair too toxic to shape the future of Labour?

Mark Steel, The Independent: Soon we’ll all enjoy supermarkets more – once the crowds of low-skilled migrant staff have been deported

Frances Ryan, The Guardian: Remember, Labour: ‘electability’ is not a choice between principle and power

Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic: Bernie Sanders gets a pass: Democrats went after the wrong guy

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