Exit smiling Priti — with a barbed warning to Mrs May
PRITI Patel was forced to quit the Cabinet last night after failing to tell Theresa may the full truth about her secret dealings with the israeli government.
The international development secretary, once tipped as a Tory leader, was left with no choice but to resign after details emerged of another meeting with a senior israeli official which she had failed to disclose to the Prime minister.
Amid farcical scenes, miss Patel was ordered to fly home to face the music just 12 hours into a tour of Africa – and just two days after she was reprieved by mrs may. She quit in a short meeting with the Pm in downing Street after arriving via the back entrance.
But last night she issued a thinly veiled warning that she could challenge the Government from the backbenches over Brexit, as allies argued she had been treated harshly.
in her resignation letter, she indicated that she could be a thorn in mrs may’s side, writing: ‘i will speak up for our country, our national interests and
‘It is right you have decided to resign’
the great future that Britain has as a free, independent and sovereign nation.’ Her departure came just a week after the resignation of defence Secretary Sir michael Fallon over allegations of sexual harassment.
mrs may is expected to carry out another mini-reshuffle this morning to replace miss Patel, a prominent Brexiteer. The reshuffle is likely to be complicated by mrs may’s desire to retain the delicate Cabinet balance on Brexit. On an extraordinary day in Westminster;
A series of fresh revelations sealed miss Patel’s political fate as it emerged she had held another undisclosed meeting with the israeli public security minister;
it was also claimed miss Patel had visited an israeli field hospital in the Golan Heights, despite it being widely regarded as illegally occupied;
Thousands tracked the progress of miss Patel’s flight home via a website, with TV news helicopters following its arrival;
A furious row broke out over whether downing Street had been aware of any of miss Patel’s controversial meetings – and whether it was No 10 who had told her to keep them quiet;
There was speculation a reshuffle could see the promotion another proBrexit MP, such as Penny mordaunt, Theresa Villiers or dominic raab.
in a letter to the Prime minister last night, miss Patel offered ‘ a fulsome apology to you and to the Government for what has happened’.
in her reply, mrs may made clear she would have sacked miss Patel if she had not resigned. She wrote: ‘Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign.’
miss Patel’s downfall followed extraordinary revelations last week that she held a dozen secret meetings with senior israelis, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a ‘family holiday’ in August.
in a major breach of protocol, miss Patel took no officials with her to the meetings, at which no minutes were kept. instead, she was accompanied by Tory peer Lord Polak, honorary president of the powerful lobby group Conservative Friends of israel.
during ‘clear the air’ talks in No 10 on monday, miss Patel promised the Prime minister she had revealed everything about her secret dealings with israel.
But to the irritation of downing Street, it emerged the following day that she had proposed diverting British aid money to fund the israeli army’s humanitarian activities in the Golan Heights – a disputed territory which Britain has not recognised since it was annexed by israel 50 years ago.
But downing Street continued to say the Pm had full confidence in miss Patel as late as 4.30pm on Tuesday.
mrs may’s patience finally snapped on Tuesday night when she learned that miss Patel had held another undisclosed meeting with israeli public security minister Gilad erdan in Parliament on September 7.
Tory grandee Sir desmond Swayne dismissed suggestions that a second Cabinet resignation in a week would be a ‘catastrophe’.
‘There are 22 Cabinet ministers and there are plenty of people who are talented to step into their shoes,’ he said. ‘it will not be a huge destabilisation.’
Several allies of miss Patel pleaded for clemency.
Speaking ahead of her dismissal, former Foreign Office minister James
‘Plenty of talent to step into her shoes’
duddridge said she had been a ‘fabulous’ minister who deserved to be let off with a ‘second reprimand’.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage tweeted: ‘resignation by Priti Patel is very sad. She’s a good woman and a leading Brexiteer in the Cabinet.’
earlier yesterday, allies of miss Patel claimed mrs may knew about her meetings in israel weeks ago.
They told the Jewish Chronicle that she had discussed her secret talks with mr Netanyahu with mrs may when the pair attended the UN General Assembly in New York in September.
downing Street flatly denied the Chronicle’s claims, saying they were ‘not true’.
THE removal of Priti Patel from Cabinet shows – contrary to received wisdom in Westminster – that Theresa May is still able to sack misbehaving ministers. Technically, the International Development Secretary – who richly deserved to be fired after swanning off to Israel for unauthorised political meetings, then failing to disclose her full itinerary to the Prime Minister – was allowed to resign.
But it was clear from yesterday’s exchange of letters that she was given no choice.
This was a welcome reassertion of Mrs May’s authority. We just hope it serves as an example to other recalcitrant ministers.