A top civil servant who Priti Patel tried to get rid of is facing a furious backlash amid claims he 'obstructed' successive home secretaries. 

Ms Patel is said to have tried to move permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam out of the department after they clashed.

Sir Philip previously faced calls for him to resign in 2018 over the Home Office’s handling of the Windrush scandal.

Now former Home Office insiders have accused the mandarin of being ‘nowhere to be seen’ during the crisis despite being ‘paid more than the prime minister’.

It came as Ms Patel faced fresh allegations of bullying having already been accused of belittling Home Office civil servants.