"Is Priti Patel a bully?" Nick Ferrari pressed minister Kit Malthouse
26 February 2020, 13:46
This is the moment Nick Ferrari asked minister Kit Malthouse if his boss Priti Patel is a bully, after she has had allegations levelled against her.
"There's been a lot of coverage of Priti Patel of late, do you recognise her as a bully?" Nick Ferrari asked Kit Malthouse, minister of state for crime, policing and the fire service.
A series of allegations emerged that she had been bullying officials alongside the claim that MI5 withheld intelligence from her due to lack of trust, which the service have since denied.
"I haven't witnessed any of that Nick, and to be honest with you, I'm totally focussed on crime," answered Mr Malthouse, insisting his focus is the Prime Minister's goal to reduce criminal activity, "everybody in the Home Office is focused on that rather than the soap opera, I'm afraid."
He continued that Mr Johnson and Ms Patel have put out a joint statement displaying their "glutinous harmony" and now they would like to get on with the mission of reducing violence and drug use.
Nick surmised with a rugby analogy, "You're all in the scrum pushing in the same direction in the Home Office? Elected and unelected together?"
"Head down and driving over the line," confirmed the minister.
