Nine months have passed since that rainy February day when Philip Rutnam, standing outside his north London home, announced that he was resigning as permanent secretary at the Home Office and suing Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, for constructive dismissal. He accused her of lying about her complicity in a “vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign” against him, and of “shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands – behaviour that created fear”.
Five months have passed since Boris Johnson first heard the results of an official inquiry into those and several other bullying allegations levelled against Patel when she was employment minister, international development secretary and home secretary. Announcing that inquiry last March, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, told MPs it was “vital this investigation is concluded as quickly as possible in the interests of everyone involved”.
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