Calls for Patel to quit over Israel meetings
International Development Secretary reprimanded by Theresa May amid calls for her to resign over visit
Priti Patel is facing calls to resign after admitting she held a series of secret meetings during what was supposedly a family holiday in Israel. The International Development Secretary was formally reprimanded by Theresa May and issued an apology for failing to disclose the meetings.
PRITI PATEL was formally reprimanded by Theresa May yesterday and faced calls to resign after admitting she held a string of secret meetings during a “family holiday” in Israel, including one with Benjamin Netanyahu. Tory ministers said that Ms Patel should be “toast” after the International Development Secretary issued an apology for failing to disclose that she held 12 meetings in 12 days in August without informing the Foreign Office.
The Prime Minister only learned of the meetings on Friday – a day after she held a meeting with Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in Downing Street to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.
Ms Patel also conceded that comments she gave last week, in which she suggested Boris Johnson had advance knowledge of the trip, may have given the wrong impression. Mrs May yesterday summoned Ms Patel to No 10 to “remind her of the obligations which exist under the ministerial code”. However Downing Street said that she will not face an official inquiry into her failure to disclose the meetings.
A senior Conservative told The Daily Telegraph: “She had a week full of meetings without officials and without contacting the embassy.
“She saw the Israeli prime minister with a donor lobbyist, and failed to declare or admit to the meetings. She commissioned policy work as a result. It is a total breach of the code. She’s toast.” Ms Patel held meetings with Israeli ministers, charities and non-governmental organisations during her trip to Israel. She was accompanied by Lord Polak, the honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel lobbying group. Afterwards she commissioned Government work.
On Friday, after news of some of the meetings emerged, Ms Patel launched an attack on the Foreign Office and appeared to suggest that Mr Johnson was aware she was going to Israel.
A Department for International Development spokesman yesterday admitted that Mr Johnson was not given advance notice. Ms Patel also indicated on Friday that all meetings she held during her holiday have subsequently been made public. The meeting with Mr Netanyahu, however, was not disclosed until yesterday.
Ms Patel’s spokesman said that she “regrets the lack of precision in the wording she used”. Ms Patel said: “This summer I travelled to Israel, on a family holiday paid for myself. While away, I had the opportunity to meet a number of people and organisations. I am publishing a list of who I met.
“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was aware of my visit while it was under way. In hindsight, I can see how my enthusiasm to engage in this way could be misread, and how meetings were set up and reported in a way which did not accord with the usual procedures. I am sorry for this and I apologise for it.”
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister met the secretary of state this morning to remind her of the obligations which exist under the ministerial code.”
The spokesman declined to say if the code had been broken but said that Mrs May has asked Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, to assess how it can be made “clearer” in future.