EU leaders are preparing for the collapse of Theresa May’s government by Christmas after Priti Patel became the second cabinet minister to resign in a week.
The international development secretary, once tipped as a Tory leader, 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.
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 – but in her resignation letter 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.
European leaders are now said to be readying themselves for Mrs May’s ‘fragile’ government to fall within weeks.
Priti Patel was taken away from Downing Street from the back gates after resigning from the government last night
Downing Street published the exchange of letters between Miss Patel and Mrs May last night
Miss Patel’s departure follows Sir Michael Fallon’s decision to quit as defence secretary last week, over accusations of misconduct against women.
The government was already being propped up on the slenderest of margins by the DUP, and question marks are still hanging over the futures of further frontbenchers in Boris Johnson and Damian Green.
Brussels is now braced for the PM being ousted by her party, or for another General Election bringing Jeremy Corbyn to Number 10.
One European leader told the Times: ‘There is the great difficulty of the leadership in Great Britain, which is more and more fragile.
‘Britain is very weak and the weakness of Theresa May makes negotiations very difficult.’
In her resignation letter, Miss Patel indicated that she could be a thorn in the PM’s side over Brexit, writing: ‘I will speak up for our country, our national interests and 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.
Miss Patel entered the famous building by the back door shortly after 6pm before the fateful talk with Mrs May
Miss Patel was driven away through the gates after drawing a line under her time as a minister
Theresa May, pictured arriving in Downing Street tonight after her regular audience with the Queen, has summoned Miss Patel for showdown talks
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 pro-Brexit 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.
The plane carrying Miss Patel arrived back in London from Nairobi at around 3pm today
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 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.’
The latest departure will inevitably heighten the sense of chaos engulfing the government, as Mrs May desperately tries to get a grip on a bewildering array of crises.
Her deputy Damian Green is being investigated over sex harassment allegations, while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson faces demands to resign over loose comments that might double the jail term for a British mother in Iran.
To make matters worse, the Prime Minister herself is also facing questions – amid claims she spoke to Miss Patel about her meeting with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu as long ago as September.
The Jewish Chronicle claimed No10 asked Miss Patel not to include a meeting with foreign ministry official Yuval Rotem in New York in September in her list of disclosures.
Downing Street is also said to have been made aware of Miss Patel’s meeting with Mr Netanyahu shortly after it happened – despite a spokesman telling journalists this week that they were unaware until last Friday.
In the most explosive allegation, it is said Mrs May spoke to Ms Patel in advance of the UN General Assembly and they discussed the minister’s meeting with Mr Netanyahu, as well as the details of Ms Patel’s plan for UK aid to be shared with the Israelis.
Mrs May is said to have agreed the idea was ‘sensible’ but needed sign off from the Foreign Office.
But a No10 spokesman said: ‘It is not true that the Prime Minister knew about the International Development Secretary’s meeting with PM Netanyahu before Friday November 3.
‘It is equally untrue to say that No 10 asked DfID to remove any meetings from the list they published this week.’
Miss Patel narrowly avoided the sack following the initial wave of revelations after the PM decided she could not risk destabilising the Government further after Sir Michael Fallon quit over sexual harassment claims last week.
But Downing Street’s stance changed yesterday after it emerged that Miss Patel had tried to divert some of Britain’s aid budget to humanitarian work by the Israeli army in the disputed Golan Heights. Britain accuses Israel of occupying the territory illegally.
It was revealed that on September 7, Ms Patel met Israeli Minister for Public Security Gilad Erdan for talks in the House of Commons.
Then, on September 18, she met Israel’s Foreign Ministry boss Yuval Rotem while in New York at the UN General Assembly.
DfID said it was not aware of the Erdan meeting until Tuesday night, and there were no UK government officials present.
Miss Patel was largely hidden by umbrellas as she took to the tarmac, and was then driven away in a ministerial car
Priti Patel was driven away in a ministerial car after arriving back at Heathrow today
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, pictured in Washington tonight where he is meeting US politicians on Capitol Hill, was unaware of Miss Patel’s meeting before they happened
Miss Patel’s undeclared meetings while on ‘holiday’ in August included one with Yair Lapid, leader of Yesh Atid (pictured)
The Rotem meeting was known about on Monday, but was not disclosed on the list because that only covered the period when Miss Patel was on holiday.
Miss Patel met both Erdan and Rotem over the summer, and met them again in September.
No10 dismissed the idea that Miss Patel had been asked not to disclose the September encounter with Rotem for fear of ’embarrassing’ the Foreign Office, pointing out that he had featured on the list anyway.
The backlash against Miss Patel reached boiling point on Tuesday night, with sources at the heart of government saying ‘no one, least of all the Secretary of State herself, is pretending she handled this well’.
Tory MPs had refused to come to her aid during a Commons statement on her conduct in which she faced renewed calls to resign.
Yotam Polizer, of the IsraAID organisation, which Miss Patel met, said the meeting had been arranged two weeks in advance – suggesting it was fixed before she left the UK.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Miss Patel also visited a military field hospital in the Golan Heights, where Syrian refugees were being treated.
The British government, along with most of the international community, does not recognise the territory, which was captured in 1967, as belonging to Israel. Protocol dictates that visits there are not hosted by Israel.
Aid Secretary Priti Patel was summoned back to the UK from Nairobi for a showdown with Mrs May, dropping plans to fly to Uganda with Trade Secretary Liam Fox. She is pictured on a previous foreign trip
Miss Patel had been due to fly on to Uganda with International Trade Secretary Liam Fox
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was in London for talks with Mrs May and to mark a century a century since the Balfour Declaration. Mrs May did not know of the meeting between Mr Netanyahu and Ms Patel during the talks
Labour claimed Miss Patel was guilty of four separate breaches of the code and called for her to resign. Kate Osamor, the party’s international development spokesman, said: ‘It is hard to think of a more black-and-white case of breaking the ministerial code of conduct.
‘But rather than change the minister, the Prime Minister somehow decided the code itself needed changing.’
Miss Patel was absent from the Commons during questions about her conduct because she was flying to Africa.
Instead, Middle East Minister Alistair Burt was sent in to explain her conduct.
He told MPs that Miss Patel had tabled proposals to use aid money to assist the humanitarian work of the Israeli Defence Force in the Golan Heights, adding that it had been ruled out immediately by the Foreign Office as ‘not appropriate’.
Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the UK, described the revelations as ‘shocking’ last night and questioned last night why Miss Patel made no effort to balance her meetings by talking to them.
Shadow Aid Secretary Kate Osamor said Ms Patel should either be sent for a formal investigation or ‘do the decent thing and resign’.
But Mr Burt claimed they were ‘not particularly secret meetings’ and insisted: ‘If I were on a visit to Israel I would have wanted a schedule just like this.’
He did however admit he would have told Britain’s Israeli ambassador had he planned such a schedule.
Mrs May’s official spokesman confirmed the issue of a field hospital was discussed by Ms Patel in her meetings.
He said: ‘The Secretary of State did discuss ways to provide medical support to Syrian refugees who are wounded and cross into the Golan Heights.
‘The Israeli Army runs field hospitals there to care for Syrians wounded in the civil war.
‘There is no change in policy in this area. The UK does not provide any financial support to the Israeli Army.’
Mrs May’s spokesman insisted Ms Patel was ‘absolutely clear’ in her meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday.
He said the new revelation was not a surprise to Downing Street and no policy change had been made.
The spokesman added: ‘The Secretary of State has been clear with No 10 that on no other occasions while a minister as she organised meetings with a foreign government minster outside the normal channels while on holiday.’
As the extraordinary row broke on Monday, the International Development Secretary blamed her ‘enthusiasm to engage’ for her failure to Mrs May or Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson about the dozen high-level encounters.
As well as saying sorry for the stunning breach of protocol, Miss Patel was also forced to make an humiliating ‘clarification’ of comments last week in which she appeared to deny there were any more meetings to disclose.
Miss Patel said in a statement on the DfID website: ‘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 underway.
‘In hindsight, I can see how my enthusiasm to engage in this way could be mis-read, 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.
‘My first and only aim as the Secretary of State for International Development is to put the interests of British taxpayers and the world’s poor at the front of our development work.’
Mrs Patel was accompanied by a Tory peer Lord Polak, who set up the meetings.
The statement released by DfID on Monday suggested Mrs Patel had started to shift policy following her visit.
DfID minister Alistair Burt was sent to the Commons (pictured) to defend Miss Patel in her absence yesterday. He said the Aid Secretary was ‘in the air’ as he explained her absence
‘On her return from Israel, the Secretary of State commissioned Departmental work on humanitarian and development partnership between Israel and the UK, and on disability,’ it said.
The statement also ‘clarified’ two quotes given to the Guardian last week in which the minister sought to dismiss the row.
She was reported as saying that ‘Boris knew about the visit’, but embarrassingly conceded today: ‘This quote may have given the impression that the Secretary of State had informed the Foreign Secretary about the visit in advance.
‘The Secretary of State would like to take this opportunity to clarify that this was not the case. The Foreign Secretary did become aware of the visit, but not in advance of it.’
Mrs Patel also admitted that a quote in which she insisted ‘the stuff that is out there is it’ was ‘lacking in precision’.
‘This quote may be read as implying that the Secretary of State was saying that the meetings that had so far been publicly reported were the only ones which took place on her visit,’ the statement said.
‘The Secretary of State would like to take the opportunity to correct this impression: she is clear that other meetings also took place on her visit, in addition to those which had been publicly reported at the time of her making these statements.’
‘The FCO are clear that UK interests were not damaged or affected by the meetings on this visit.’
The backlash over Priti Patel’s secret meetings in Israel is part of a plot to oust Brexiteers from the Cabinet, a Tory MP last night claimed.
Nadhim Zahawi, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the outcry over the trip has been ‘drummed up’.
And he said calls for Boris Johnson to quit as Foreign Secretary over his gaffe about a British mother in an Iranian jail was also part of the same plot.
Mr Zahawi told BBC’s Newsnight: ‘This is not an enemy state that she was somehow having clandestine meetings with.
‘The Foreign Office knew during the trip she was having these meetings. Yes, the ambassador should have been there, she’s already admitted the mistake of not following procedure and apologised for it.
‘I somehow feel that some of this stuff is being drummed up because both Priti and the Foreign Secretary were big beasts in the Brexit campaign and some Labour ‘Remoaners’ and others who think if we can take out some of these beasts and derail the government then maybe we can actually do a U-turn on Brexit.’
Abandon ship! Sleaze probe minister Damian Green poses with a LIFEBOAT as May fights to keep government afloat
Sleaze probe minister Damian Green posed with a lifeboat today – as Theresa May struggled to keep her government afloat.
The PM’s deputy took part in the unwise photo opportunity as the government was buffeted by a string of crises, ranging from sexual allegations to illicit meetings with foreign politicians.
Sir Michael Fallon’s career as Defence Secretary came to an abrupt end last Wednesday, after he admitted his behaviour towards women had fallen short of standards.
Deputy PM Damian Green, who is under investigation by the Cabinet Office, posted a picture of himself being shown a lifeboat in Moray
Mrs May has already lost Sir Michael Fallon (pictured front row, third from left) from her Cabinet, while Priti Patel (pictured right of middle row) has now gone
And Priti Patel was axed last night after more details emerged of a swathe of unauthorised meetings with Israeli politicians while she was on a ‘family holiday’ last summer.
Mr Green is under investigation by the Cabinet Office over allegations he made a clumsy pass at a Conservative activist, and sent her a flirty text message.
He has also furiously denied separate claims that police found ‘extreme’ – but legal – porn on his office computer in 2008.
The minister yesterday posted a picture of himself being shown a lifeboat in Moray.