ms patel is named in the documents.fended ms patel, calling her a brilliant home secretary and praised the civil service. she has always strenuously denied all of the allegations. shocking new pictures have emerged of the greek coastguard shooting into the water and using their patrol boats to push away dinghies full of migrants trying to reach greece. thousands of migrants and refugees have gathered at turkey's border with greece after turkey announced it would no longer prevent them from leaving for the european union. turkey is trying to increase pressure on western countries for more help with the syrian conflict. our correspondent, jonah fisher, sent this report from 0restiada, near greece's border with turkey. shouting in the eastern aegean, migrant lives are bargaining chips and cheap. this was filmed by the turkish coast card and shows greek boats trying to stop a packed dinghy of migrants reaching europe. —— coastguard. imagine the fear on board, unwanted by turkey or by greece. those are warning shots being fi

ms patel is named in the documents.nded ms patel, calling her a brilliant home secretary and praised the civil service. she has always strenuously denied all of the allegations. riana croxford , , denied all of the allegations. riana croxford,, bbc news. the time is 18:16. our top story this evening... more cases of coronavirus are confirmed in the uk, as the prime minister warns of a possible big increase in the spread of the disease. and we will have the latest from the east yorkshire village where dozens of homes are still under floodwater. it could stay that way for several days yet. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... anthony joshua will defend his heavyweight belts this summer. it's been confirmed he'll fight kubrat pulev at tottenham stadium. there had been suggestionsjoshua would meet tyson fury next. shocking new pictures have emerged of the greek coast guard shooting into the water and using their patrol boats to push away dinghies full of migrants trying to reach greece. thousands of migrants and refugees h

ms patel is named in the document.alling her a brilliant home secretary and praised the civil service. she has always strenuously denied all of the allegations. rianna croxford, bbc news. members of the greek coastguard have been seen shooting near migrants in the sea, and using patrol boats to push away vessels full of people, trying to reach greece from turkey. thousands of migrants and refugees have gathered at turkey's border with greece, after turkey announced it would no longer prevent them from leaving for the european union. turkey is trying to increase pressure on the west, to provide more help with the syrian conflict. 0ur correspondentjonah fisher sent this report from 0restiada, near greece's border with turkey. in the eastern aegean, human lives are bargaining chips, and cheap. this was filmed by the turkish coast guard and shows greek boats trying to stop a packed dinghy of migrants reaching europe. imagine the fear on board, unwanted by turkey and greece. those are warning shots being fired at a flimsy i

ms patel is named in the document.nded ms patel, calling her a brilliant home secretary and praised the civil service. she has always strenuously denied all of the allegations. rianna croxford, bbc news. members of the greek coastguard have been seen shooting near migrants in the sea and using patrol boats to push away vessels full of people trying to reach greece from turkey. thousands of migrants and refugees have gathered at turkey's border with greece after turkey announced it would no longer prevent them from leaving for the european union. turkey is trying to increase pressure on the west to provide more help with the syrian conflict. 0ur correspondent jonah fisher sent this report from 0restiada, near greece's border with turkey. in the eastern aegean, human lives are bargaining chips, and cheap. this was filmed by the turkish coast guard and shows greek boats trying to stop a packed dinghy of migrants reaching europe. imagine the fear on board, unwanted by turkey and greece. those are warning shots being fired

ms patel hasn't responded to sir philip's claims, but has previously denied she mistreated staff. 0urical correspondent, helen catt is with me. how much additional pressure does ms patel now find herself under to explain the allegations and to explain the allegations and to explain why she rejects them? well, certainly, labour is trying to increase that pressure. you mentioned so keir starmer, he said it is her duty to explain this to the house of commons. it is suggested there should be an investigation and she should be suspended while that happens. does it look like she is under any imminent threat? not really. earlier, health secretary matt hancock defended her, saying she was determined but courteous. there are signs that this may not yet be about to die down completely. the bbc has been told there was a formal complaint against her when she was a minister in the department for work and pensions back in 2016. a spokesman for priti patel says he is not aware of this and we don't know what happened, whether it was upheld, but what it suggests is that these leaks, upheld, but what i

seems to be facing every day, and i suppose what compounds the difficulties for ms patel is that the the initial claims, we know they are going to look at all the allegations, so they are going to take on board all the different sets of allegations, added to which the looming employment tribunal threatened by the former permanent secretary at the home 0ffice permanent secretary at the home office that, too, will presumably wa nt to office that, too, will presumably want to call witnesses from these other instances, so there is a sort of head of steam building up, albeit no 10 this morning insisting that the prime minister still has full confidence in priti patel, there is no suggestion of no 10 pulling away from ms patel. and as you say, among her supporters on the backbenches, increasingly vociferous attacks on the civil service, remarks such as, that there are dark forces now in the civil service trying to undermine ms patel. so, there is no sign at the moment of no 10 backtracking away from her, but the list of allegations is steadily mounting. the headlines on bbc news... wash yo

ms patel denies all the allegations.arrying out an internal cabinet office inquiry into the matter, but that didn't satisfy the labour leader. will he now commit to an independent investigation into the home secretary's conduct led by an external lawyer and commit to a date when its findings will be made public? mr speaker, of course there should be an investigation into any allegations of bullying. that is what the cabinet office is doing and that is what sir alex would be doing. but since he mentions the home secretary, that she is keeping this country safe by putting record numbers of police officers, she believes in stopping the early release of offenders and she is bringing in a system to tackle our migration crisis with an australian style point based system. a government cannot be judge and jury over its own conduct. there has to be an independent element of that investigation. overnight, mr speaker, further allegations of emerge that the home secretary repeatedly harassed and humiliated the private secretary whil

ms patel has reissued denials in response to newspaper reports but has not publicly commented on allegationse bbc has learned another formal complaint was made against her. i spoke to our political correspondent helen catt earlier, who told us the claims mean tension between her and the civil service is unlikely to die down quickly. there was a formal complaint made against priti patel when she was at the department for work and pensions. it is understood to have come from a member of her private office. we do not know what happened to the complaint, whether it was upheld or rejected. we do not know the answer to that. we have been told there are conflicting views of how she was when she was at the dwp. 0ne whitehall source said she created a hostile and unhappy environment for civil servants by undermining them. another source at the department for work and pensions said she was difficult and not afraid to say what she wanted but they would not call her a bully. the constant them of conflict — about what she was like to work for essentially. what it really tells us is it was unlikely to die

ms patel has reissued denials in response to newspaper reports, but has not publicly commented on allegationsto come to parliament to address the matter. and today, the bbc has learned another formal complaint was made against her. 0ur political correspondent iain watson has the latest. labour are trying to ratch up the pressure on priti patel. the labour leadership candidate kier starmer has called for her to make a statement to mps in parliament tomorrow about these allegations of bullying made by the former most senior official in her department, sir philip rutnam. in addition to that, the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has said there should be an enquiry into priti patel‘s behaviour and during that enquiry she should be suspended from the home office. and the bbc has been told that there was a formal complaint about priti patel‘s behaviour, not at the home office, but when she was an employment ministerfour years ago. her spokesman says he has no knowledge, indeed she has no knowledge of that complaint, and we do not know if it was pursued, but clearly there are people willing to pile

ms patel has reissued denials in response to newspaper reports, but she has not publicly commented onations made by sir philip rutnam. he is suing the government for constructive dismissal. these lea ks are totally unacceptable and the briefing wars need to stop. sir philip has made it clear he was not part of that. but if it's happened, and it clearly has, then it's a bad thing. but equally we've had absolutely torrents of briefing against sir philip. the thing he asked for, but you couldn't get, was an assurance that it wouldn't continue. i understand exactly what that's like and it's impossible to respond to it, if you are inside government. so this is a problem of unauthorised leaking, you're absolutely right, but also, in my view, completely inappropriate briefing of the media against a senior civil servant as well. let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt. helen, we have heard matt hancock on the andrew marshall. we played a little clip earlier. we didn't get the overall drift about the interview. more broadly, what has he had to say today? he has been talking about

ms patel has reissued denials in response to newspaper reports, but has not publicly commented on allegationsy, the bbc has learned another formal complaint was made against her. 0ur political correspondent ian watson joins us now. labour a talented batch that the pressure on priti patel labour leadership as called for her to make a statement in parliament to mile about these allegations. in addition to that the shadow chancellor, said an inquiry should be made into her behaviour and during that she should behaviour and during that she should be suspended from home office. bbc has been told there was a formal complaint that priti patel his behaviour. not at home office but when she was administered four years ago, that spokesman says he has no knowledge and she doesn't either at that complaint. i don't know if that was pursued. clearly there are people willing to pile the pressure on to her. she will be the relieved pressure will be coming off her position, because borisjohnson has given her his full backing. he made it very clear that she still had a big job to do as home secretary. i have a

rutnam resigned suddenly at the weekend, saying he'd been constructively dismissed, and accused ms patellitical correspondent jessica parker is at westminster. she said the email came from priti patel and sir philip's acting replacement, shona dunn. in it, they say, "we both regret sir philip's decision to resign." no direct relation to the allegations of bullying facing priti patel — allegations she of course strongly denies — but the e—mail does talk about the well—being of staff. the importance of candour, confidentiality, courtesy between ministers and civil servants, and it urges everyone to come together as one team. so what does this e—mail tell us? well, i think it shows that priti patel plans to tough this one out. she does of course enjoy the confidence of the prime minister. however, there is a cabinet office inquiry under way, albeit one that critics claim it lacks independence. and sir philip broughton and plans to pursue this claim of constructive dismissal. so if there is an effort here in this e—mail to show unity and haul this huge department on and away from the recent

ms patel has reissued denials in response to newspaper reports — but she has not publicly commented onhe is suing the government for constructive dismissal. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent, helen catt. if there is that sort of rift it moves quietly. pretty extraordinary for it to boil over in this public way with the senior civil servant in front of the camera is resigning saying they are going to sue the government for disruptive dismissal and are choosing one of the most senior cabinet ministers, the home secretary of lying and bullying. she has denied that claim had not responded publicly but we haven't had a huge amount of response publicly in the either side partly because that is in the context that sir philip rutten will take legal action, everyone has been careful but that was put to matt hancock, one of priti patel‘s cabinet collea g u es one of priti patel‘s cabinet colleagues and here is what he said. what i would say is that priti is a very determined home secretary. she is probably closer to where the public are on the issues of law and order than any home s

rutnam resigned suddenly at the weekend, saying he'd been constructively dismissed, and accused ms patellitical correspondent jessica parker is at westminster. jessica, tell us more about the letter. this e-mail is a joint one from divitel and sir philip notman's acting replacement and they both say they regret his decision to resign put no direct reference to the allegations in a facing priti patel which he strongly denies but they talk about the well—being of staff, the importance of candour, confidentiality, courtesy between ministers and civil servants and it urges everyone to come together as one team. so what does it tell us? it shows that priti patel plans to toughen this out. she does enjoy the confidence of the prime minister but there was a cabinet office enquiry under way, albeit one critics claim lacks independence and sir philip rutnam plans to pursue this claim of this constructive dismissal. if it is an effort to halt this huge department away from the recent saga, the truth is this episode is not quite over yet. jessica, many thanks, jessica parker at westminster. in the

but our chief political correspondent vicki young says despite his backing ms patel isn't out of the further down the line, this industrial tribunal. if former civil servants or even current civil servants decide to give evidence, it seems at the moment that they will do, that could be extremely difficult for priti patel. she has the support of the prime minister at the moment but you have to wonder, with the work the home office has to get done, the new immigration system for example, extra policing, all of those things she has to deal with, this is a very difficult time for her, even though she does have the support of the prime minister. 0ur lead story is? italy is shutting down schools and universities as it tries to stop the spread of coronavirus. at least 25 people have died after tornados tore through the us state of tennessee early on tuesday. in nashville, buildings collapsed and tens of thousands of people were left without power. president trump has said he plans to visit the stricken areas on friday. at least 21 people have been killed in torrential rain that's hit the br

asked the cabinet secretary, sir mark sedwill, to set up an inquiry into allegations of bullying by ms patel her colleague this morning. well, i've worked with priti for a number of years. i think she's a fine public servant, she is somebody who is dedicated to delivering for her department. she is dedicated... but is she a bully? that is certainly not my experience of working with priti. she is an extremely courteous person, she's always professional and she is doing fantasticjob as home secretary. it's a difficultjob, we've got to get the borders right post brexit. we've got to make sure we recruit those additional police officers, and she's absolutely dedicated to that task. damian green is a former home office minister and says there could be a more fundamental tension between ministers and their departments. it's clearly a clash of two strong personalities. but i think the more interesting question is whether there is some underlying tension either in the home office or in whitehall more generally, where, effectively, ministers come in, particularly strong—minded ministers, like priti a

but the prime minister has said he has absolute confidence in ms patel, calling her a "fa ntastic homen. he was the home secretary under gordon brown from june 2009 to may 2010, running the department that philip rutnam has resigned from. also with us is sir bob kerslake. he was head of the civil service under david cameron and knows philip rutnam well. alanjohnson, alan johnson, what do alanjohnson, what do you think of this action, then? well, it's incredible. you don't have to be a fan of the british civil service, and i, by the way, to see that there is something desperately wrong about a senior... —— and i am. let's say it was a private sector organisation, a big organisation, and one of the top people in it not only resigns about resigns, goes on camera condemning the leader and ta kes camera condemning the leader and takes the organisation to court. it is unprecedented, it is absolutely incredible. lord coe is like, i am told you know philip rutten well, what do you think of his action? when i heard of it, i was completely astonished, i in fact recommended sir philip for his fir

ms patel faces allegations that she mistreated staff in her current role as home secretary, she deniesvice presidentjoe biden‘s bid for the white house has been given a big boost after his campaign was backed by two former rivals. it comes ahead of what is known as super tuesday when democrats in 1a states decide who they think should challenge donald trump in the presidential election later this year. sprinter dina asher—smith is the fastest british woman in history and no stranger to taking her medals, but how about a barbie? ahead of international women's day, the world and european champion was honoured with her own one of a kind gel for her record—breaking achievements.” was taken aback by how much actually look like me, the details were so precise, the little gold rings, gold necklace, earrings, my hairwas there with the gorgeous braids the curls through eight and also the skin tone and, most importantly for me, the muscle tone, because i think it is really important that young girls see all aspects of femininity. that is pretty cool! that is a summary that is pretty cool! that i

helen, are we likely to hear anything from priti patel was yellow ms patel has not responded publiclyad treated employees in ways including swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands. ms patel has reassured denials that she gave about newspaper reports that suggested something similar, but she has not spoken publicly. some of her allies privately suggesting that sir philipjust wasn't allies privately suggesting that sir philip just wasn't up to the job. certainly, there are increasing calls for her to say something in public, specifically in parliament. sir keir starmer, a leadership leader contender, wanted to make a statement in parliament tomorrow and he wants to see the allegations investigator. there have been calls from the shadow cabinet minister officer who wants to see boris johnson address the claims. there are johnson address the claims. there a re calls johnson address the claims. there are calls for some sort of response. while that may be, some people might feel that is giving the prime minister a headache, there is happy news for him and his p

patel, who's at the centre of a storm over allegations of bullying. sir philip rutnam, the most senior official at the home office, resigned, alleging ms patel‘s conductg, belittling people, and making unreasonable and repeated demands". there have been reports of similar behaviour when she was at the department for work and pensions. and on wednesday fresh allegations emerged about her time at international development. priti patel denies all the allegations. the government is carrying out an internal cabinet office inquiry — but that didn't satisfy the labour leader. will he now commit to an independent investigation into the home secretary's conduct led by an external lawyer and commit to a date when its findings will be made public? mr speaker, of course it is right that there should be an investigation into any allegations of bullying, and that is what the cabinet office is doing it that is with sir alex allen would be doing. but since he mentions the home secretary, that she is keeping this country safe by putting record numbers of police officers, she believes in stopping the early release of offenders and she is bringing in a system to tackle