Boris Johnson’s anti-bullying week gaffe

Boris Johnson has been forced into an embarrassing row today, after the government published a report into allegations that Home Secretary Priti Patel bullied her staff – and which found that she broke the ministerial code. Despite this, the Prime Minister declined to punish Patel, which then led his advisor on ministerial standards to stand down.

A protracted dispute with the civil service about bullying would be awkward enough, merely days after Downing Street promised a grand reset of its communications. But Mr S wonders if the Patel row may have come at the worst possible moment for the government: considering that it is currently anti-bullying week.

That presumably explains why education secretary Gavin Williamson can be seen in a video this week declaring that ‘bullying is never acceptable’: