Sir Philip Rutnam's resignation

No no no varian, Pritti us fine and dandy, Boris may or may not grow up. Its all good.

He's not the first top official to quit his job, and he certainly won't be the last. I thought you'd be pleased that an "unelected" aide has gone, you're always screaming for another unelected aide to be sacked!

Leftie civil servants have had it their own way for far too long. The tide is turning, and now they come across a strong woman with right wing views who wants to put the law abiding, tax paying citizens of her country first and they can't cope with not being in charge any longer. Diddums. They would rather support criminals' rights than those of the victims. Donald said that he wanted to drain the swamp; it needs doing here too. Rutnam can always get a job with the BBC or the EU.

Time you learned the difference between a civil servant and a spad, Opal.

Time you learned the similarities between a civil servant and a spad, MaizieD - they're both unelected!

Who are these lefties please quizqueen. Come on, don't be shy.

Donald? Who is in our swamp. Come on, be brave

I have known quite a few senior civil servants over the years and not one of them has been remotely "leftie". No idea where you got that from quizqueen.

Civil servants and SpAds are not the same Opal. Every senior civil servant I have known has it ingrained in them that their duty is to their country and not any political party. SpAds are appointed by politicians and are highly partisan.

he was involved with The Windrush generation, Amber Rudd the then Home Secretary resigned but an internal enquiry
found officials failed to provide her with the correct information, does he have a problem with a woman boss ?

How can Rutnam get a job with the EU? He's British.

Carry on smearing Anniebach!

I didn't say they were "the same" growstuff, I said they had "similarities". Please note the difference.

Quizqueen
I take it that you haven't got a lot of sympathy ?

So please enlighten me as to who is in our swamp.

growstuff i asked a question

If Priti Patel is as nasty to her staff as she is to the people of this country she needs to go.
Deporting the son of the Windrush generation because he had a motoring offence. It's disgusting.
Why doesn't she dig into the background of children who came with the refugees from Idi Amin. I'm sure some of those will have motoring offences.

Here's an answer Annie, no he doesnt. She is a vile woman.

I thought he sounded petulant in his speech.
This was followed up by him flouncing off !

I am sure Prity Patel has a great deal of support in this country for her tough stance on crime.

He is not an unelected aide, and you will never know what his politics are, Opal.

He is, or was, a top civil servant carrying out the wishes of the government of the day or whatever party and offering advice as appropriate without bias.

Of whatever party

quizqueen you obviously have no idea how the Civil Service works either!

Do you feel that Priti Patel has become the most ignorant in a government of incompetent politicians after her remark that 8.5 million inactive Britons will replace immigrants?

Quora question and answer

Priti Patel’s latest crass comments join a growing list of her crass comments.

“…the government were well aware Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. Why hasn’t this point been pressed home during negotiations?“ Priti Patel, Conservative MP and former cabinet minister, December 2018

Resigning from cabinet after conducting her own foreign policy with the Israeli government, Ms Patel then suggested that the treat of her no-deal Brexit should be used as negotiating leverage with the Irish government. While still a cabinet minister, many will recall Ms Patel’s holiday to Israel where she met Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli the prime minister), a senior foreign ministry diplomat, the public security minister and the leader of the Yesh Atid party.

Less than a year later, Ms Patel - now back in government - said she would not “take lectures” from some voters in parts of London. And in the run up to the December 2019 election, Ms Patel then attempted to shift blame from central to local government on the subject of poverty.

Now Ms Patel includes the sick, the disabled and students in her economically inactive total - suggesting they could work - as part of a recruitment package following her immigration proposal to reduce the number of new foreign arrivals into the UK.

In a recent interview, Ms Patel repeatedly confused “counter-terrorism” with “terrorism”. The video clip of her crass mistake has attracted concern has since been adapted for its comedic value in another video.

Ms Patel recently made an appearance on social media showcasing one of the new blue UK passports. In her statement, she failed to say that she is going to end current freedom of movement rights for UK passport holders.

Ms Patel now finds herself in the middle of fresh allegations of bullying and reluctance by officials to share classified security with her.

Ms Patel efforts to start an inquiry following the apparent briefings against her have been refused by Helen MacNamara, the civil servant who heads propriety and ethics. In turn, Ms Patel is delaying the publication of independent reports on terror legislation, the status of EU citizens and the Windrush scandal.

Boris Johnson - the UK prime minister - is unavailable for comment.

Patel is a bully and a bigot and from what is leaked, she up isn’t up to the job.

My experience of working on a couple of Home Office projects in the past and knowing a number of mostly middle rank civil servants as friends and colleagues, is that they are hard working, mostly pleasant people.
The senior civil servants I have met, in the course of my work have been positive and keen to see projects succeed.

Philip Rutman has been a civil servant for 30+ years serving both Labour and Tory governments. For a man with decades of public service (albeit well paid) to resign in such a manner suggests something is very wrong, in the department. These matters should have been internally investigated and if necessary mediated long before this point.
The Home Office has offered him a financial settlement, which also suggests something is awry.

I am sure he has dealt with demanding politicians in the past, but it appears the issues here have gone beyond that.
Personally I find the idea of a dysfunctional Home Office, particularly with the complex issues around the flooding and Coronavirus, very alarming.