MI5 chiefs are reducing the amount of intelligence they pass to Priti Patel because they do not have “have confidence in her abilities”.
According to reports the Home Secretary is “extremely difficult to deal with” because she does not “grasp the subtleties of intelligence”.
Security service personnel apparently regularly ‘roll their eyes’ following interventions made by Ms Patel during high level meetings.
Bullying claims
The reports come amid bullying claims from staff who say Patel belittles officials, makes unreasonable demands and has created an “atmosphere of fear”.
It has also been claimed that she sought to oust permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam from the Home Office.
Matters came to a head last week when a senior official collapsed after a meeting with Ms Patel following an all-night effort to reverse a High Court ruling barring the deportation of 25 foreign criminals to Jamaica.
Extremely difficult to deal with
Speaking to the Sunday Times, one official said: “The spooks find her extremely difficult to deal with.
“She doesn’t grasp the subtleties of intelligence. It’s not black and white. They don’t have confidence in her abilities.”
Another source said the security services “have to decide how much to share, and they share less”.
They also claimed that Ms Patel is now “informed about things later in the decision making process”.
Related: Home Office still separating families not deported on chartered flight to Jamaica
