Because Boris Johnson doesn’t seem inclined to explain his own policies, almost all of the media have interpreted the Priti Patel affair wrongly. It was nothing to do with bullying and everything to do with confronting the arrogant and complacent civil service mandarins responsible for colossal blunders in emergency response and equipment procurement during the Covid crisis. Some reports claim that Sir Phillip Rutnam, former boss of the Home Office, was known as ‘Dr No’ because of his obstructive attitude, in which case, it’s not surprising if Priti swore at him.
Moreover, Sir Alex Allan who has just resigned because Boris ignored his advice, and is huffing and puffing about ‘standards in public life’ is surely missing the point profoundly. This sorry episode does indeed turn on standards in public life, just not the ones he’s going on about.
Grumpy Greybeard 