Conservative MP Julian Lewis suggested that Ms Patel was a victim of sexism, asking: “How does my right honorable friend think Margaret thatcher would have got on if she had been subjected to the same smears and sexism as have been used against the present Iron Lady in the Home Office? “
Mr Gove replied:” Progress in the past has depended on strong ministers and indeed strong prime ministers setting exacting terms but progress has also depended on having a brilliant and able civil service able to act with confidence and provide candid advice. “
Fellow Conservative MP Mark Fletcher echoed this, telling the Commons:” There seems to be a pattern between the appointment of female home secretaries and vicious briefings in the media against them.
“Is it possible that some of these unelected men have a problem with taking instructions from powerful women?”
A third Tory MP, Robert Halfon, claimed the allegations against Ms Patel were part of an “establishment “attempt to frustrate the Conservative government agenda.
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He said : “Is it not the case that this all started with briefings from unknown sources against the home secretary and not the other way around?
” My constituents of Harlow, they want to have fairer immigration, they want 51, (new) police on our streets. Does this not have the nasty whiff of an establishment who are trying to stop these policies? “
Yvette Cooper, a Labor MP and chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, asked how many bullying allegations had been made against the home secretary.
Mr Gove told the Commons it would be “improper to comment on an” individual personnel case “but said every complaint would be investigated.
Hilary Benn also asked whether Downing Street had received any complaints in relation to Ms Patel’s previous jobs as international development secretary and work and pensions minister.
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