NEW in the case of the missing home secretary

The home affairs committee chaired by Yvette Cooper has been trying to fix a date for Patel to give evidence for over a month, with no response

Cooper is insisting that Patel appears on or around 15 April

Patel wrote to Cooper yesterday saying she was “disappointed at the increasingly adversarial tone” and promising to appear for the committee “towards the end of the month”

Cooper replied insisting on an earlier date, saying the delay would “be inappropriate given the urgency”

Cooper has declined an offer of private Home Office briefings on the basis of transparency

Patel has appeared before the committee just once, in October, since she became home sec in July

Sunak, Raab, Buckland, Coffey have all appeared before committees in the past three weeks

Patel hasn’t appeared in any of the gov’s coronavirus press conferences or broadcast rounds

Full correspondence published here: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/83/home-affairs-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Tory source: “It's a shame Yvette hasn't adopted the collegiate attitude of her new leader, maybe thats why she didn't get a shad cab job – with a majority as slim as hers, she should probably spend more time speaking to her constituents and less time chasing Guardian headlines”