Priti Patel, who has received the full backing of Boris Johnson, demanded an inquiry after sources at the Home Office accused her of bullying and creating an atmosphere of fear

The head of the civil service has told ministers and mandarins that they must treat each other with “candour, confidentiality and courtesy” as he tried to calm a toxic row in the Home Office.

Boris Johnson has expressed his “full confidence” in Priti Patel, the home secretary, amid accusations that she bullied civil servants and that MI5 restricted her access to intelligence.

She has demanded a formal leak inquiry into “hostile briefings” by officials in her department after claims emerged that intelligence chiefs at MI5 do not trust her.

This morning the prime minister’s official spokesman said claims that MI5 was limiting access to information were “baseless and wrong”. The spokesman said there was no leak inquiry into hostile briefings against Ms Patel.

The Times