Ex-senior civil servant accuses Cabinet Office of 'systemic racism' in tribunal documents

A former senior civil servant has said in court papers that "a hostile racist working environment" in the Cabinet Office meant she was "forced to resign".

- Emily Dugan

Rowaa Ahmar, who has now withdrawn a discrimination case against the Cabinet Office, said that "the racism within the Cabinet Office appeared to be unrelenting and systemic" and claimed that she was frozen out of ministerial meetings after complaining about it.

Ahmar, who is of Egyptian and French dual heritage, was head of policy at the Illegal Migration Taskforce, which was convened to tackle the arrival of small boats across the Channel. She said she was unwelcome at discussions about sending people to Rwanda because she was not onboard with the "racist ultra hostility" of their policy proposals.

An employment tribunal hearing against the Cabinet Office and senior civil servants began on Monday but the case was withdrawn on Wednesday. Ahmar had lodged two claims arguing she was subject to "direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of her sex and race" as well as "victimisation".

The Cabinet Office said her claims were "completely unfounded" and noted that Ahmar had withdrawn the case with no payment made.

Ahmar said that at the taskforce she had tried to focus small boats policy on criminal gangs and "to add constructively to the debate and to move it away from prejudice and blame", but managers "were onboard for the racist ultra-hostility which a boomerang ('no returns') policy would involve, and they saw me as [an] unwelcome visitor to their taskforce".