Priti Patel reached a six-figure settlement with a senior civil servant after claims that he was forced out of his job for intervening in her alleged bullying of fellow staff.

Whitehall sources said Sir Philip Rutnam, a former permanent secretary in the Home Office, received a £340,000 settlement with a further £30,000 in costs. He had threatened to take the home secretary to an employment tribunal hearing in September.

He also claimed he had been hounded out of his job for defending his staff, and was suing the government under whistleblowing laws.

The payoff means Patel and Boris Johnson will no longer face the possibility of giving evidence before a public tribunal.