Fresh claim that Priti Patel ‘threw a folder’ at official during row as Boris Johnson vows to stick with her
PRITI Patel has been accused of throwing a folder at an official during a row, in the latest bullying claims to hit the Home Secretary - as the PM again promised to stick with her.
Whitehall sources told the Daily Mail that an official was hit in the face during a row in 2016.
Allies of Ms Patel denied the claims and said they were which come from her time as employment minister in the DWP.
A Whitehall source said: "She was being briefed by officials for an event and there was a page missing and she got annoyed. At the end of the briefing, she threw the folder at him and hit him in the face.
"It was so aggressive. She didn't apologise. It was just like when Alex Ferguson chucked the boot at Beckham."
However, a spokesman for Mrs Patel said the claim was "categorically false".
And former Work and Pensions Secretary - who as Ms Patel's boss at the time - added: "If someone threw a file at you, you would report it, wouldn't you?
"There wasn't a complaint."
This morning Boris again said he would be standing by her and she was doing an "outstanding job".
Speaking to ITV, he said: "It does without saying, I don't like bullying at all. We have got to investigate it.
"There is a proper Cabinet office investigation, we will get to the bottom of it.
";But my instinct is to stick with Prit, as they say. She is doing an outstanding job."
Sitting right next to her during PMQs, Boris Johnson insisted she was doing an "outstanding job".
He said: "The Home Secretary is doing an outstanding job – delivering change, putting police on the streets, cutting crime and delivering a new immigration system – and I'm sticking by her."
Last weekend the Home Office was rocked by the resignation of top civil servant, Sir Philip Rutnam, who accused Ms Patel of lying and bullying staff.
In a bombshell statement he claimed she had sworn at staff and made unreasonable demands.
He's intending to take her and the Department to court for constructive dismissal.
Labour has called for an independent inquiry - and demanded she is suspended while it takes place.
Jeremy Corbyn accused Mr Johnson of being "determined to cover up for bullies in his government”.
Yesterday The Sun revealed how Ms Patel had complaints from her time at the Department for International Development too.
The embattled Cabinet minister is alleged to have repeatedly harassed and belittled her private secretary at the time.
A friend of the former staffer said: “She was utterly appalling to him, really nasty and demanding all of the time.
“She bullied the f*** out of him to the point he got ill and asked for a move.”
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It has also emerged that a former aide to Ms Patel was given a £25,000 payout after she took an overdose of prescription medicine following her alleged bullying.
A friend of Ms Patel hit back to dub it “gravely concerning” that a small number of “unelected civil servants” are continuing to brief against her.
Mr Duncan Smith added: "Some of the civil service are using Priti Patel to take on the Government.
"They're using Priti to weaken Downing Street's resolve. If Downing Street backs down, some in the civil service will say they have won, and no one will say boo to them again. It's complete nonsense from start to end. I've worked with her and yes, she's tough, she's strident. But she's trying to get a job done."
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