UK minister Patel calls for unity after top official resigns - internal email

Britain's interior minister Priti Patel said she regretted the resignation of senior official Philip Rutnam and called on her department to pull together, an internal email seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday. "We both regret Sir Philip's decision to resign," the email sent to staff said. The email was co-signed by Shona Dunn, the department's acting permanent secretary.

Philip Rutnam, the top official in the interior ministry or Home Office, said on Saturday he was stepping down because he had become the "target of vicious and orchestrated campaign against him", which he alleged Patel was involved in. The email said: "We both deeply value the work that every person in this department does and care about the wellbeing of all our staff. It is therefore a time for us all to come together as one team."