The Home Office, whose fundamental duty is to protect the rights of individuals, is at the centre of a public furore about bullying.

The Home Office, whose fundamental duty is to protect the rights of individuals, is at the centre of a public furore about bullying. Its civil service head, Sir Philip Rutman, resigned spectacularly last weekend, complaining that the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, was behind a media campaign to remove him from office. When she denied it he accused her of lying.

A sense of proportion might come in handy here. A mentally ill man called Prince Kwabena Faso, who hailed from Ghana, died from dehydration, malnutrition and hypothermia “in plain sight” at an immigration centre, an inquest jury has just found. He was left dirty, hungry and naked in his bare cell for six days, suffering from an acute psychotic episode which had been undiagnosed. Nobody seemed to care. And who was ultimately responsible for his welfare? The Home Office. But not one person has been removed from office, and no one has been prosecuted.

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