Priti Patel, U.K. Foreign Aid Minister, Resigns Over Secret Meetings in Israel
8, 2017
LONDON — Britain’s international development secretary, Priti Patel, on Wednesday became the second cabinet minister to quit in a week, a significant new
setback for Prime Minister Theresa May as her shaky government grapples with critical decisions ahead of the country’s departure from the European Union.
Mrs. May accepted the resignation — rather than firing Ms. Patel — adding that, because "further details have come to light" since a discussion on Monday, it was "right
that you have decided to resign." Critics accused Ms. Patel of freelancing on foreign policy, and her failure to be completely candid about the extent of her activities ultimately sealed her fate, as information kept emerging.
The litany of accusations against Ms. Patel — who was summoned home from a working visit to Africa — made the minister’s
resignation almost inevitable, turning her slow-motion departure from government into a protracted political pantomime.
That has exposed him to attacks from hard-line supporters of Brexit, who want a clean break from the European Union,
and some right-wing critics want Mrs. May to fire Mr. Hammond for being insufficiently optimistic about Brexit.
For Mrs. May, the episode has been a particular headache because Ms. Patel is a passionate supporter of Brexit within a cabinet
that was constructed carefully to balance views on Europe.
The progress of Ms. Patel’s return flight from Kenya was monitored by thousands online,
and on Twitter, users created a hashtag #Prexit — a reference to Ms. Patel’s support for Brexit.
