This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/08/priti-patel-forced-to-resign-over-unofficial-meetings-with-israelis

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Priti Patel forced to resign over unofficial meetings with Israelis Priti Patel forced to resign over unofficial meetings with Israelis
(about 1 hour later)
Priti Patel has been forced to resign after failing to be candid with Theresa May over unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers, businesspeople and a senior lobbyist. Theresa May’s government was rocked on Wednesday by a second cabinet resignation in a week after Priti Patel was forced to step down as international development secretary.
The international development secretary is the second cabinet minister to leave the government in a week and her loss will reinforce the impression that Theresa May’s government is in freefall. The minister quit after being summoned back from a trip to Uganda and Ethiopia by Downing Street after it emerged she failed to be candid with May about 14 unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers, businesspeople and a senior lobbyist.
Downing Street called Patel back from a trip to Uganda and Ethiopia on Wednesday after six days of revelations including an undisclosed meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, organised by Lord Polak, an experienced Tory lobbyist. The prime minister will now face another reshuffle that will create disruption and add to the sense of instability across Whitehall and Westminster as her minority government battles to retain control of the political agenda.
The development will be seen as a blow for Brexiters, for whom Patel is a standard bearer. She was also the only minority ethnic woman in the cabinet. May and Patel met for just six minutes in the early evening. In her resignation letter, released moments after she left No. 10, Patel admitted her actions “fell below the high standards that are expected of a secretary of state.”
In her resignation letter, Patel wrote: “In recent days there have been a number of reports about my actions and I am sorry that these have served as a distraction from the work of the Department for International Development and the government as a whole.
“As you know from our discussions I accept that in meeting with organisations and politicians during a private holiday in Israel my actions fell below the high standards that are expected of a secretary of state.
“While my actions were meant with the best of intentions, my actions also fell below the standards of transparency and openness that I have promoted and advocated.”
The prime minister said that Patel’s decision was the correct one. She argued in a letter to the former cabinet minister that the UK and Israel were close allies and should work closely together.The prime minister said that Patel’s decision was the correct one. She argued in a letter to the former cabinet minister that the UK and Israel were close allies and should work closely together.
“But that must be done formally, and through official channels. That is why, when we met on Monday, I was glad to accept your apology and welcomed your clarification about your trip to Israel over the summer.”“But that must be done formally, and through official channels. That is why, when we met on Monday, I was glad to accept your apology and welcomed your clarification about your trip to Israel over the summer.”
But she added: “Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign and adhere to the high standards of transparency and openness that you have advocated.”But she added: “Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign and adhere to the high standards of transparency and openness that you have advocated.”
May said Patel should be proud of her achievements as international development secretary, including delivering value for money to British taxpayers while “helping some of the world’s most vulnerable people”. She said the department had focused more on economic development and trade during Patel’s time in charge. Six days of revelations about Patel’s meetings dominated headlines. On Monday it emerged that she had spoken to the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in August in a meeting that May did not know about and with no officials present. Thirteen meetings were held in the presence of Lord Polak, an experienced Tory lobbyist.
And she said the minister was right to be proud to be the first Indian cabinet member, which she called a “significant achievement”. The development will be seen as a blow for Brexiters, for whom Patel is a standard bearer. She was also the only minority ethnic woman in the cabinet. Patel could become an outspoken backbencher and help exert pressure on May from the Brexiter wing of the party.
Patel’s return to Britain via a flight from Nairobi had been followed on the internet and in the media, with broadcasters airing pictures of the plane she had been travelling in as it landed. A replacement for Patel was expected to be announced on Thursday. One senior MP said that May would be determined to maintain “balance” within her cabinet, both in terms of gender and the divide between ministers who backed the leave and remain campaigns in the EU referendum.
It appeared that the MP for Witham had broken ministerial rules when the BBC disclosed on Friday that she met politicians and businessmen from Israel while on holiday in August without informing departmental officials, the Foreign Office or Downing Street, in advance. Names under discussion include Penny Mordaunt, the welfare minister who was a prominent campaigner for out and Andrea Leadsom, the Brexiter leader of the House of Commons. Remainers who could be in line for promotion include Claire Perry, the climate change minister, and Alistair Burt, whose current brief spans DfID and the foreign office.
In an interview with the Guardian on the same day, she claimed that Boris Johnson had been aware of the meetings and that Foreign Office mandarins had briefed against her. Patel’s return to Britain via a flight from Nairobi had been closely followed on the internet and in the media, with broadcasters even airing pictures of the plane she had been travelling in as it landed.
But on Monday, she was forced to apologise and withdraw her claims about the Foreign Office and Johnson after a meeting with Theresa May. She also disclosed that she had held 12 meetings in Israel with officials, businessmen, Netanyahu and the country’s security minister. It appeared that the MP for Witham had broken ministerial rules when the BBC disclosed on Friday that she met politicians and businessmen from Israel while on holiday in August without informing departmental officials, the Foreign Office or Downing Street in advance.
In 11 of these, she was accompanied by Polak, a peer and lobbyist who is a senior figure in the Conservative Friends of Israel group, including a meeting with Yair Lapid, who leads a small centrist party in the country. In an interview with the Guardian on the same day, she made misleading claims that Boris Johnson had been aware of the meetings and that Foreign Office mandarins had briefed against her.
Patel’s downfall was triggered by a failure to be entirely candid with the prime minister on Monday. It is understood that Patel told May in person that there were no other revelations due to emerge about her visit. Patel told the Guardian: “Boris knew about the visit. The point is that the Foreign Office did know about this, Boris knew about [the trip]. It is not on, it is not on at all. I went out there, I paid for it. And there is nothing else to this. It is quite extraordinary,” she said.
But her reassurances collapsed on Tuesday when it emerged that DfID officials had been asked to explore whether it would be feasible to send UK aid money to the Israeli army for humanitarian work in the occupied Golan Heights, a proposition which appeared to undermine the government’s position on occupied land. But on Monday she was forced to apologise and withdraw her claims about the Foreign Office and Johnson after a meeting with Theresa May. She also admitted that she had held 12 meetings in Israel with officials, businessmen, Netanyahu and the country’s security minister.
Her fate was sealed late on Tuesday, after Downing Street confirmed that Patel had two further unauthorised meetings with senior Israeli officials after her return from Israel. Patel’s ultimate downfall was triggered by a failure to be entirely candid with the prime minister on Monday. It is understood that Patel told May in person that there were no other revelations due to emerge about her visit.
But her reassurances collapsed on Tuesday when it emerged that DfID officials had been asked to explore whether it would be feasible to send UK aid money to the Israeli army for humanitarian work in the occupied Golan Heights.
Her fate was sealed late on Tuesday after Downing Street confirmed that Patel had two further unauthorised meetings with senior Israeli officials after her return from Israel.
Gilad Erdan, the Israeli security minister, met Patel in parliament on 7 September. She also saw Yuval Rotem, an official from the Israeli foreign ministry, for a meeting at the UN general assembly in New York. Polak was present at both meetings.Gilad Erdan, the Israeli security minister, met Patel in parliament on 7 September. She also saw Yuval Rotem, an official from the Israeli foreign ministry, for a meeting at the UN general assembly in New York. Polak was present at both meetings.
The prime minister faced accusations that she had been told of the New York meeting with Rotem by Patel but actively told the cabinet minister not to disclose it. The suggestion was made in an article in the Jewish Chronicle. Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, claimed on Wednesday that Patel visited an Israeli military field hospital in the Golan Heights, a disputed area that the UK does not recognise, and failed to declare it. DfId said they could neither confirm nor deny the report.
Downing street strongly denied the claim. No 10 admitted that Patel had told May about the meeting and that it was part of the rebuke the international development secretary received on Monday. Downing Street insisted that May knew nothing about Patel’s meetings until the controversy broke in the media late last week.
However, they said the prime minister had not told Patel to keep it off the list – which they said had been drawn up by the international development secretary. They insisted it was her choice to only include the meetings in Israel during the summer holiday. However, Alistair Burt said in the Commons that both the British embassy, foreign office and DfID had been informed on 24 August, immediately after the meetings took place and while Patel was still in the country.
No replacement for Patel was expected to be announced on Wednesday night. But MPs have already started discussing possible replacements – with names circulating including the welfare minister, Penny Mordaunt, and Claire Perry, who focuses on climate change. Alistair Burt – whose current brief already spans DfID and the foreign office – would also be seen as a popular replacement for Patel, without causing too much of a knock-on impact. Neither the foreign office nor DfID were able to explain why No. 10 was not informed.
One minister said that May’s decision to move Gavin Williamson from chief whip to defence secretary last week suggested that she was desperate to avoid a wide, disruptive reshuffle. Patel’s resignation will prompt further calls from the Conservative right to merge DfID with the foreign office. Johnson appeared to make a play for his department to absorb DfID last month saying it was a “colossal mistake in the 1990s to divide the Department for International Development from the Foreign Office”.
Labour’s Tom Watson claimed that he had been informed of a further meeting by Patel during her holiday with officials from the British Consulate General Jerusalem, suggesting the government had been formally notified of the situation.
“The existence of such a meeting or meetings would call into question the official account of Ms Patel’s behaviour, and the purpose of her visit,” wrote Watson in a letter to the prime minister last night, which listed a series of fresh questions.
The development comes seven days after Sir Michael Fallon resigned as defence secretary over accusations of inappropriate behaviour towards women which he categorically denies.The development comes seven days after Sir Michael Fallon resigned as defence secretary over accusations of inappropriate behaviour towards women which he categorically denies.
Damian Green, May’s right-hand man, remains under investigation by the Cabinet Office for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a female activist and for allegations connected to claims that pornography was found on a laptop seized by police. He denies both of these claims. Damian Green, May’s righthand man, remains under investigation by the Cabinet Office for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a female activist and for allegations connected to claims that pornography was found on a laptop seized by police. He denies both of these claims.
May’s administration has been hit by a series of crises since she lost her House of Commons majority in June. May’s administration has been hit by a series of crisessince she lost her House of Commons majority in June.