The Rutnam saga has been settled, but there needs to be a lot of work to repair government actions of the past year
The year-long Philip Rutnam saga, which started with his dramatic accusations about the home secretary’s bullying and briefing, fizzled out last week with the news that the two sides had agreed a settlement. A big cash sum, but no formal admission of liability from the Home Office. No comment from Priti Patel’s former permanent secretary.
This may be in the best interests of both parties. But many people – and not just the massed array of journalists who would have hung on every word – will be annoyed at being denied the prospect of the ultimate court showdown between Patel and Rutnam. The government has deemed it value for money to make a payout to avoid a case that would have taken the lid off tensions inside one of the most important government departments. Civil servants, who may have fumed quietly when the prime minister ignored calls in November to dismiss Patel, after the prime minister’s own adviser on ministerial standards advised that her behaviour could be deemed to have “been in breach of the ministerial code, even if unintentionally”, will be frustrated that the government has moved to shield her from whatever evidence Rutnam would have exposed. The taxpayer can feel justifiably miffed that yet again they have had to bail the government out of their HR problems: in November, Sonia Khan, a special adviser unceremoniously sacked by Dominic Cummings received a substantial payoff ahead of an employment tribunal claim.
