Priti Patel

The government is pushing ahead with changes to electoral law that could make it easier for Conservatives to win future mayoral elections. Home secetary Priti Patel has already unveiled plans to introduce the first past the post electoral system used to elect MPs in Westminster. Mayors across England are elected from the existing supplementary vote […]

A union representing senior public servants has been given the go-ahead to bring a High Court challenge against the government. The FDA union launched judicial review proceedings in February over the prime minister’s decision to disregard the findings of his adviser on ministerial standards last year. Sir Alex Allan left his advisory role in Downing […]

Allegations of bullying by home secretary Priti Patel will reach the High Court after a union representing senior public servants challenged Boris Johnson’s refusal to sack the minister. The FDA union launched judicial review proceedings in February over the prime minister’s decision to disregard the findings of his adviser on ministerial standards last year. Sir […]

Campaigners have hit out at an “inhumane” policy introduced to deport homeless people who are not UK nationals. The Home Office strategy was brought in last year as part of changes to the immigration system amid the government’s bid for tougher border restrictions and a “firmer and fairer” immigration system after Brexit. The plan means […]

Priti Patel is pushing ahead with plans to ban a white supremacist group from operating in the UK. The home secretary wants to outlaw Atomwaffen Division and list National Socialist Order as its alias. Priti Patel has asked parliament to proscribe the “predominantly US-based white supremacist group that celebrates and promotes the use of violence in […]

Former Conservative politician Alan Duncan’s new memoir In The Thick Of It contains much criticism of Boris Johnson – but why didn’t he say this earlier? “NOW YOU TELL US” OF THE WEEK Former Conservative politician Alan Duncan, whose new memoir In The Thick Of It (can’t imagine where he came up with that title) […]

The loss of access to EU policing data has been branded concerning by peers, who fear new law enforcement arrangements put in place after Brexit are “complex” and “untested”. The Lords EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee examined security provisions in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) introduced after the UK left the EU, warning “significant […]

Campaigners and charities have condemned the government’s plans to overhaul the asylum system, with some branding the plans as “inhumane”. Particularly of concern are plans to judge asylum seekers on how they arrived in the UK and not on merit. Migrant Voice said the proposals would condemn asylum seekers “to a life in limbo with […]

The home secretary has said she will make “no apology” for tougher immigration rules as she announces “the biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades”. Details of Priti Patel’s new plan for immigration, detailing how the government intends to deal with people entering the UK “illegally”, will be set out on Wednesday. The […]

Technical problems delayed Priti Patel’s appearance in the House of Commons ahead of an update on the protests in Bristol. MPs had assembled in the chamber for Home Office questions at 2.30pm, but problems in allowing MPs to appear virtually in the chamber caused speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to suspend business immediately. He told the […]

The Liberal Democrats are pushing ahead with a pledge to overhaul the UK’s asylum seeker laws and boost refugee intake numbers at this weekend’s party conference. Members will be asked to vote on boosting the UK’s refugee intake to 10,000 applicants a year and strengthen family reunion rights.   A motion being brought forward by former Lib […]

Priti Patel’s clampdown on demonstrators is part of a chilling pattern of government moves to silence dissent Priti Patel is clamping down on the right to protest. She won’t admit it, of course. When she presented her new police, crime, sentencing and courts bill to the Commons this week, she insisted it had no impact […]

Asylum seekers could be sent to processing centres abroad under Priti Patel’s plans to overhaul the immigration system, according to reports. The British overseas territory of Gibraltar is a location under consideration by officials, according to The Times, as well as the Isle of Man and other islands off the British coast. Priti Patel has […]

Which minister’s mate charged the government £2.6million for the new No.10 Downing Street press briefing room, asks Mitch Benn as he hands out political awards to Boris Johnson and Priti Patel Hello and welcome to this, the first of my columns to be 100% compliant with the terms of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts […]

Former Remain and Leave groups have united in opposition to the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Opponents of Priti Patel’s latest act of legislation include Richard Tice – former chairman of the Brexit Party and Leave Means Leave – and Tom Brufatto, former leader of the People’s Vote marches and co-director of March […]

The failure to properly investigate allegations against ministers risks damaging public confidence, Boris Johnson’s former independent adviser on the ministerial code has warned. Sir Alex Allan said there was now a case for giving the adviser greater powers to initiate their own inquiries into complaints against members of the government. Sir Alex quit the post […]

The government is understood to have agreed a “substantial” payout to settle a top civil servant’s employment tribunal claim after he quit amid allegations of Priti Patel’s bullying.Home Office chief Sir Philip Rutnam is reported to have accepted a six-figure sum after launching legal action against the home secretary. The department’s former permanent secretary dramatically […]

A union representing senior civil servants said it “cannot be right” that ministers do not face an independent complaints process in the wake of the home secretary bullying row. During an evidence session with MPs, the FDA was asked about the ministerial code following the prime minister’s decision to disregard the findings of Sir Alex […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has said she disagrees with the act of taking a knee as a protest against racism, as she criticised Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Patel described the anti-racism protests – sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, USA, on May 25 last year after a white police officer held him […]

The Home Office has confirmed that the records of more than 15,000 people were wiped from the Police National Computer (PNC) due to a “coding error”. Policing minister Kit Malthouse said that a total of 209,550 offence records relating to 112,697 individuals has been deleted from the PNC last month, which is run by the […]

Priti Patel has denied that she was hypocritical for going on a work trip away from London after criticising social media influencers for using work as an excuse to travel. The home secretary defended the decision to leave London for a meet and greet with police officers, saying it was part of her “statutory duties”. She […]

An SNP MP has asked Priti Patel why she has not quit as home secretary following the revelation she failed to close the UK’s borders back in March. The confrontation occurred during a statement from the home secretary in the Commons. Defending the government’s border strategy, Patel told MPs: “From January 2020 the government has had […]

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has caused hilarity after a jibe in which he likened Lorraine Kelly to “Priti Patel with a brain”. Morgan was tipped by the Daily Star to become the UK’s next prime minister, prompting the breakfast show presenter to look for potential ministers in his cabinet. As Kelly said she […]

Independent SAGE member Professor Christina Pagel has criticised Priti Patel’s decision to issue new £800 fines for Covid rule-breakers, calling on the minster to “stop blaming the public”. Prof Pagel told LBC radio she was “so angry” at the announcement and said ministers should instead focus on tightening Covid restrictions than fining people who break them.  “They’ve […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has suggested Priti Patel may have broken the ministerial code by advocating border closures against government policy. In comments first reported by political website Guido Fawkes, Patel is said to have told the Conservative Friends of India group: “On ‘should we have closed our borders earlier’, the answer is yes. I was […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has claimed that she argued for the UK border to be shut to international visitors in March when the pandemic first emerged. In comments first reported by political website Guido Fawkes, Patel is said to have told the Conservative Friends of India group: “On ‘should we have closed our borders earlier’, […]

Priti Patel has shrugged off suggestions Downing Street is to blame for Britain’s high Covid death toll, saying now is not the time “to talk about mismanagement”. The home secretary said there were “a range of reasons” for the UK’s appalling death toll but said it was not right to draw attention to them at the moment. […]

Piers Morgan has urged Priti Patel to resign after 400,000 criminal records disappeared from the national crime database. The home secretary has come under mounting pressure to take responsibility for an error that led to hundreds of thousands of police records being deleted from UK-wide databases. Data was wiped from the Police National Computer (PNC) – which […]

Susanna Reid has taken on the home secretary over the government’s attempts to blame the public for a rise in cases of coronavirus over Christmas. The Good Morning Britain host saw red after hearing Priti Patel claimed the government had discouraged mixing over the festive period. Co-presenter Piers Morgan kicked off the debate by telling […]

Labour has criticised Priti Patel for failing to attend the House of Commons to answer questions on the loss of hundreds of thousands of records from a police database. A significant number of fingerprint, DNA and arrest history records were lost due to human error and defective code. Initially, some 150,000 records were believed to have […]

Few politicians come with a reputation as controversial or fierce as Priti Patel’s. Ian Birrell talks to insiders to find out what lies behind that uncompromising image. Soon after Tony Blair won his second landslide election victory, the Daily Telegraph interviewed five women to ask why they wanted to become MPs for the stale, male and moribund Tory […]

Home secretary Priti Patel appeared to spark more confusion with an appearance on This Morning alongside Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. The minister appeared confused about coronavirus rules once more as she stressed the importance of exercising alone. The guidance makes clear that in England someone is allowed to exercise outdoors with one other person from […]