Thread by @Calumets

The Priti Patel SHAME thread:

Patel apologised today, saying: "It's never been my intention to cause upset to anyone." This is a lie.

The summary of the report is illuminating as it seeks continually to excuse her behaviour, but can't avoid concluding that she is a bully. 1/18

Bearing in mind that the officially released summary constitutes fewer than 500 words, it is extraordinary that it offers no less than 9 justifications for her behaviour, and seeks repeatedly to spread the blame for her bullying to the victims themselves. 2/18

Excuse 1: Patel "has become – justifiably in many instances – frustrated by the Home Office leadership’s lack of responsiveness & the lack of support she felt.” That ‘frustrat[ion]’ “manifested itself in forceful expression, including some occasions of shouting & swearing.” 3/18

Excuse 2: “This may not be done intentionally to cause upset.”

If you shout and swear, you are actively & intentionally seeking to upset someone. So Patel’s apology is a lie. 4/18

The Ministerial Code “defines bullying as intimidating or insulting behaviour that makes an individual feel uncomfortable, frightened, less respected or put down.” It then says Patel’s behaviour “would meet such a definition.” 5/18

Except, it uses passive language to avoid attributing the behaviour to Patel, instead referring to “behaviour reported to the Cabinet Office…” Shamefully, the report then seeks to spread the blame to the victims of the bullying. 6/18

Excuse 3: “The Civil Service itself needs to reflect on its role during this period. The Home Office was not as flexible as it could have been in responding to the Home Secretary’s requests and direction.” 7/18

Continuing: “She (Patel) has – legitimately – not always felt supported by the department.” That word ‘legitimately’ is instructive, and offers Patel justification 4 for her bullying behaviour. 8/18

The report then further blames the victims, going so far as to accuse them of being at fault for not making Patel aware that she was a bully. Justification 5: “In addition, no feedback was given to the Home Secretary of the impact of her behaviour…” 9/18

“…which meant she was unaware of issues that she could otherwise have addressed.”

Excuse 6 reiterates that Patel didn’t know she was a bully: “her behaviour has been in breach of the Ministerial Code, even if unintentionally.”

Oh, that’s alright then… 10/18

Excuse 7 (in a document not 500 words long, see link at the end) soon follows: “This conclusion needs to be seen in context.” Uh oh, this looks like another ‘blame the victim’ coming up… 11/18

“There is no evidence that she was aware of the impact of her behaviour…” You said that already, not that it means much, other than suggesting that she is inhuman, “and no feedback was given to her at the time.” There you go, the victims were to blame… 12/18

But Sir Alex Allan isn’t finished: “The high pressure and demands of the role, in the Home Office, coupled with the need for more supportive leadership from top of the department has clearly been a contributory factor.” Bullying is ok if you are stressed then… 13/18

Especially if your minions are not as supportive as you would like… Way to go Sir Alex Allan.

A few of those were repeated excuses, so (not wishing to exaggerate the sheer sycophantic squirminess of the summary), let’s say the ‘high pressure job’ excuse was excuse 8. 14/18

Finally, excuse 9: “In particular, I note the finding of different & more positive behaviour since these issues were raised with her.”

Although somewhat reassuring, I don’t really see why this has been included at all. Is it within the boundaries of the investigation? 15/18

Here's the rub:

As an Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for pastoral matters and behaviour in a state secondary school, I would have rightly been in a whole heap of trouble if I had attempted to justify the behaviour of a bully in any one of these ways. 16/18

Despite all the attempted excuses Sir Alex Allan included in his 477-word summary, the takeaway should be the unavoidable conclusion that she is a bully.

As such, she should be sacked. Immediately.

We all know that ain’t happening… #ToryShame 17/18

Here’s the summary: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl… 18/18