Patel is a bully and should be sacked.
But she won’t be sacked. It is literally how she has got to where she is.
In the same way that Johnson won’t lose anything by lying. Because that is, 100%, the reason he is there in the first place.
We are dealing with a top echelon here who have breached that final level of trust – namely that those appointed to positions of power hold themselves to high standards because ‘the system’ cannot always do it.
You just have to look at some of the corrupt post-colonial african ‘strong men’ to see it:
Aide: Err, Mr President, sir. You can’t actually do that, the law prevents you.
President: I’ll change the law, then.
Aide: You won’t get it through parliament.
President: I’ll declare a state of emergency, then.
Etc. Etc.