News Analysis |
The UK’s international development secretary, Priti Patel, has resigned after it was revealed she held secret meetings with Israeli officials during what she said was a family holiday to Israel.
She met with Theresa May in Downing Street, following frantic speculation on whether she was about to be fired from her ministerial post. The international development secretary was summoned back from a trip to Uganda to answer questions about her undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials while on holiday.
Patel admitted that after the 13-day visit, she had wanted to give British aid money to the Israeli army in the Golan Heights.
In her resignation letter, Patel apologized for failing to inform UK Prime Minister Theresa May or Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson about the meetings.
It also emerged that Patel met Israeli public security minister Gilad Erdan in the British Parliament on September 7, and foreign ministry official Yuval Rotem in New York on September 18.
She discussed sending aid to the Israeli army without the knowledge of the Foreign Office and did not make this clear to the prime minister after apologizing on Monday. ‘I offer a fulsome apology to you and to the government for what has happened and offer my resignation,’ she said in a letter.
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In her resignation letter, Patel apologized for failing to inform UK Prime Minister Theresa May or Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson about the meetings.
“My actions fell below the standard of transparency and openness I had promoted and advocated,” she said.
Commenting on this resignation, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Jo Swinson said in a statement: “This was an appalling error of judgment is nothing short of a major failure by the British government.
“Number 10 must answer questions about their complicity in this scandal. Someone has been deceived, either the British people or the Prime Minister’s office. Whichever it is someone must be held to account.”