UK High court rules in favour of PM Boris Johnson over bullying allegations on Priti Patel

A United Kingdom High Court on Monday, December 6, backed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his decision to support Home Secretary Priti Patel after accusations that she had bullied civil servants, according to PTI. Last year, Johnson kept his Home Secretary in post despite accusations against her of breaking the ministerial code.

The ruling comes after First Divison Union (FDA) had challenged UK PM's decision and argued that they had incorrectly interpreted the definition of bullying.

UK Court backs PM Boris Johnson

The High Court on Monday, December 6, backed PM Johnson and ruled that he had not misdirected himself over the country's Ministerial code when he did not remove Priti Patel from her post. Lord Justice Clive Lewis and Justice Karen Steyn in their ruling dismissed claims of FDA.

Lord Justice Lewis in the Court said that they did not consider Boris Johnson had "misdirected himself", as per PTI. Lawyers for the FDA argued that Johnson "misinterpreted" the term "bullying" in the Ministerial Code, while lawyers defending Johnson's decision argued that the FDA's claim was "not justiciable" and there was "no error of law".

"The question for this court is whether the prime minister proceeded on the basis that conduct would not fall within the description of bullying within paragraph 1.2 of the Ministerial Code if the person concerned was unaware of, or did not intend, the harm or offence caused," Lord Justice Lewis said as per PTI.

Even though the UK Court backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, FDA general secretary Dave Penman claimed that the judgement was an important step towards ministers being held accountable for their behaviour in office, reported Independent. 

Last year in November, Sir Alex Allan, then adviser on ministerial standards, had found that UK Home Secretary Priti Patel did not always treat civil servants with "consideration and respect". In the report, he noted that her behaviour on some of the occasions can be described as "bullying" in terms of the effect it had on the individuals.

He had alleged that the behaviour of Home Secretary Priti Patel had broken the ministerial code. However, the UK PM supported his cabinet minister and said that he had "full confidence" in her. Following the report, Allan resigned from his post.

Inputs from PTI

Image: Twitter/@BorisJohnson/@PritiPatel