Priti Patel adviser removed from Westminster bar by police after calling drinkers ‘c****’

At least six officers on scene to remove chief of staff to home secretary

A senior adviser to the home secretary was removed from parliament by police after swearing at fellow drinkers in one of its bars moments before MPs voted in favour of a general election.

Priti Patel’s chief of staff James Starkie had reportedly been referring to people as “c****” in an expletive laden rant.

When at least six police officers arrived to remove him from the parliamentary estate, the former Vote Leave staffer who also worked as a special adviser for Michael Gove, is also said to have angrily punched the door of the Stranger’s bar as he was told to exit.

“He kept saying ‘I haven’t done anything wrong, I haven’t done anything wrong’ when he was asked him to leave," a witness told the Huffington Post website. “Then another drinker said ‘yes, you have, you keep calling everyone a c*** and it isn’t acceptable’.”

The incident took place at the same time as MPs geared up to vote for a general election to take place on 12 December

The Conservative party looks likely to make law and order a central element of its campaign drive in the poll – with the home secretary's hard-line policies, including tougher sentences for attacks on police officers, taking centre stage.

A House of Commons spokesperson said: “We can confirm there was an incident with an individual in Strangers bar. The individual was asked to leave, and was escorted from the Estate by Parliamentary Security”

Mr Starkie, who also ran Dominic Raab's Tory leadership campaign, declined to comment when approached by The Independent.