This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
by our industrial reporter @TrinderMatt
BORIS JOHNSON did not “misdirect” himself over the ministerial code when deciding if Priti Patel’s behaviour towards civil servants breached its standards, High Court judges ruled today.
The FDA union, which represents senior public servants, brought a judicial review over the Prime Minister’s decision last year to back the Home Secretary following allegations of bullying.
Lawyers for the union sought a declaration that Mr Johnson had misinterpreted the term “bullying” in the code and made a “misdirection of law” when reaching his decision.
In a ruling released today, Lord Justice Lewis, sitting with Ms Justice Steyn, dismissed the claim by saying no misdirection had been made.
Justice Lewis argued that judges had not been provided with the details of the allegations made against Ms Patel, but said that the court had not been asked to express a view on whether she did the things alleged nor what sanctions, if any, would be appropriate.
FDA general secretary Dave Penman said that he was disappointed by the judgment but stressed it was an “important step forward in the battle to ensure that ministers are held to account for their behaviour in the workplace.”
He said: “The Prime Minister has to have regard to the law of the land when he makes these decisions.
“He is also minister for the Civil Service and he has responsibility not only to his own ministers but also to the civil servants who bravely raised these concerns about the Home Secretary.”
Mr Penman, who confirmed the union would consider an appeal, called for a “fully independent and transparent” process to investigate allegations of ministerial misconduct.
He also slammed Mr Johnson for having a copy of the report on Ms Patel in May 2020 but failing to take action for six months “before a decision was dragged out of him.”
In an investigation into Ms Patel’s behaviour, published in November last year, the PM’s former adviser on ministerial standards Sir Alex Allan found her treatment of civil servants on occasions had “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying.”
Mr Johnson, the arbiter of the ministerial code, said that Ms Patel was “unaware” of the impact she had and he was reassured that she was “sorry for inadvertently upsetting those with whom she was working.”
Sir Alex resigned following the PM’s judgment.
