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| May prepares for second reshuffle in a week as Priti Patel departs | May prepares for second reshuffle in a week as Priti Patel departs |
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| Theresa May is set to perform her second cabinet reshuffle in a week after the resignation of Priti Patel on Wednesday night and is likely to come under pressure to replace the Eurosceptic MP with another Brexit backer. | Theresa May is set to perform her second cabinet reshuffle in a week after the resignation of Priti Patel on Wednesday night and is likely to come under pressure to replace the Eurosceptic MP with another Brexit backer. |
| The former international development secretary resigned and acknowledged that her behaviour “fell below the high standards” expected of a minister after she attended meetings with senior Israeli figures while on a family holiday without reporting them to Downing Street. | The former international development secretary resigned and acknowledged that her behaviour “fell below the high standards” expected of a minister after she attended meetings with senior Israeli figures while on a family holiday without reporting them to Downing Street. |
| In her first public comment since her resignation, Patel tweeted a thank you message to her colleagues and constituents on Thursday morning. | In her first public comment since her resignation, Patel tweeted a thank you message to her colleagues and constituents on Thursday morning. |
| An enormous thank you to friends, colleagues, constituents & the public for the support & kindness you have shown me over the last few days | An enormous thank you to friends, colleagues, constituents & the public for the support & kindness you have shown me over the last few days |
| The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, another Eurosceptic, said May should not seek to change the fine balance in the cabinet between remain and leave supporters. | The former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, another Eurosceptic, said May should not seek to change the fine balance in the cabinet between remain and leave supporters. |
| “I don’t think Theresa May is looking to change the balance or send any great signal, that would be wrong,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “It would be wrong, I think in her own mind, to make any great changes to the balance of the cabinet.” | “I don’t think Theresa May is looking to change the balance or send any great signal, that would be wrong,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “It would be wrong, I think in her own mind, to make any great changes to the balance of the cabinet.” |
| Duncan Smith said May’s first priority would be “someone who is capable ... [who] you think will add value to the cabinet” but said their view on Europe would still be key. | Duncan Smith said May’s first priority would be “someone who is capable ... [who] you think will add value to the cabinet” but said their view on Europe would still be key. |
| “We are all Brexiteers now so the question is to what extent do you want someone in that job to be in support of David Davis and others? And I think on balance, having strong Brexit views, is one that I think the prime minister will certainly look for.” | “We are all Brexiteers now so the question is to what extent do you want someone in that job to be in support of David Davis and others? And I think on balance, having strong Brexit views, is one that I think the prime minister will certainly look for.” |
| Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested on Wednesday night that Patel’s downfall may have been linked to leaks from those within government who did not like her vocal support for Brexit. | Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested on Wednesday night that Patel’s downfall may have been linked to leaks from those within government who did not like her vocal support for Brexit. |
| “There are still some people who are still very bitter about the result a year ago and inevitably that colours their behaviour,” he told BBC’s Newsnight. | “There are still some people who are still very bitter about the result a year ago and inevitably that colours their behaviour,” he told BBC’s Newsnight. |
| “If you go into how did Priti Patel’s visit come out in the first place, was it leaked by the Foreign Office, was it leaked by somebody at the Foreign Office who resented her and probably the foreign secretary’s role in Brexit, you may find something.” | “If you go into how did Priti Patel’s visit come out in the first place, was it leaked by the Foreign Office, was it leaked by somebody at the Foreign Office who resented her and probably the foreign secretary’s role in Brexit, you may find something.” |
| Rees-Mogg said he did not view it as essential that Patel’s replacement was a long-time supporter of quitting the EU, but said it should not be “a frightful Eeyore”. | Rees-Mogg said he did not view it as essential that Patel’s replacement was a long-time supporter of quitting the EU, but said it should not be “a frightful Eeyore”. |
| The prime minister may also seek to avoid the controversy that followed her appointment of Gavin Williamson as defence secretary following Michael Fallon’s resignation last week. Some of her MPs openly criticised her for promoting her chief whip and close ally, rather than widening the pool of talent around the cabinet table by promoting someone from the backbenches or junior ministries. | The prime minister may also seek to avoid the controversy that followed her appointment of Gavin Williamson as defence secretary following Michael Fallon’s resignation last week. Some of her MPs openly criticised her for promoting her chief whip and close ally, rather than widening the pool of talent around the cabinet table by promoting someone from the backbenches or junior ministries. |
| Patel was forced to quit her post after it emerged she had a series of 12 engagements with senior Israeli figures – including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – during a holiday in the country in August. It later emerged she had two additional meetings, one in the UK and one in the US, following her return from Israel. | Patel was forced to quit her post after it emerged she had a series of 12 engagements with senior Israeli figures – including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – during a holiday in the country in August. It later emerged she had two additional meetings, one in the UK and one in the US, following her return from Israel. |
| Priti Patel goes to Israel on what she claims was a family holiday, which she paid for herself. | |
| Patel met the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting was not authorised in advance and no UK officials were present. She later claimed the Foreign Office was made aware of this meetings and others while her trip was under way. | |
| Meanwhile, Patel’s deputy Alistair Burt and David Quarrey, the British ambassador to Israel, were meeting Michael Oren, a deputy minister at the Israeli prime minister’s office, according to the Jewish Chronicle. According to notes of the meeting, cited by the paper, Oren referred to Patel having had a successful meeting with Netanyahu earlier. | |
| Foreign Office officials became aware of Patel’s first meetings, according to a statement given to the Commons by Burt on 7 November. He did not mention his own visit to Israel. Hansard quotes Burt telling the Commons: “The Secretary of State [Patel] told Foreign Office officials on 24 August that she was on the visit. It seems likely that the meetings took place beforehand.” | |
| On the same day Patel met Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s Yesh Atid party, who describes her as a “true friend of Israel”. | |
| On an undisclosed date during her trip, Patel visited an Israeli military field hospital in the occupied Golan Heights, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. If confirmed, this would be a breach of a protocol that British officials do not travel in the occupied Golan under the auspices of the Israeli government. | |
| Patel leaves Israel after 12 work meetings, during two days of a 13-day holiday. As well as meeting Netanyahu, she also held talks with the public security and strategic affairs minister, Gilad Erdan, and an Israeli foreign ministry official, Yuval Rotem. The meetings were organised by Lord Polak, a leading member of the Conservative Friends of Israel. He accompanied Patel on all but one one of the meetings. | |
| On her return to the UK, Patel inquires about using the UK aid budget to help fund the Israeli army’s humanitarian work in the Golan Heights. The idea is rejected because the UK does not recognise Israel’s permanent presence in the Golan Heights, which were seized from Syria in the 1967 war. | |
| Patel meets Gilad Erdan, the minister for public security, and is photographed with him on the House of Commons terrace. | |
| While in New York for the UN general assembly, Patel has another meeting with Yuval Rotem, an official from the Israeli foreign ministry. | |
| Theresa May meets Netanyahu in Downing Street. | |
| Patel told the Guardian that the foreign secretary knew about her trip and suggested the Foreign Office had been briefing against her. “Boris knew about the visit. The point is that the Foreign Office did know about this, Boris knew about [the trip],” she admitted telling the paper. | |
| The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale reported that Patel had undisclosed meetings in Israel without telling the Foreign Office. He quoted one official as saying that Patel had been “pushing to get her hands on the Palestinian Authority aid budget and we have been pushing back”. | |
| Patel apologises after admitting she gave a misleading account to the Guardian of her trip to Israel. In a statement, she admits holding 12 meetings, including three with Israeli politicians – Netanyahu among them. | |
| She said: “This quote [to the Guardian] 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.” | |
| She does not mention visiting the occupied Golan Heights or the two subsequent meetings in September. | |
| A No 10 spokesman confirms that Patel was rebuked for breaching the ministerial code. | |
| Patel avoids answering an urgent Commons question about her meetings in Israel because of a “longstanding commitment” to visit Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. The international development minister Alistair Burt is put up in her place. Burt points out that Patel apologised for the undisclosed meetings. He adds: “The department’s view is that aid to the IDF [Israeli Defence Force] in the Golan Heights is not appropriate.” | |
| Downing Street initially backs Patel but later confirms that the prime minister was not informed about providing aid to Israel during her meeting the previous day. It is suggested Patel failed to disclose her two subsequent meetings in September with Israeli officials. A Whitehall source says: “There was an expectation of full disclosure at the meeting on Monday. It is now clear Priti did not do that. It will now have to be looked at again.” But according to the Jewish Chronicle, it was No 10 who told Patel not to include her meeting with Rotem in New York in her list of undisclosed meetings for fear of embarrassing the Foreign Office. | |
| DfiD confirms previously undisclosed September meetings with Erhad and Rotem in September. | |
| Patel is summoned back to London at the request of the prime minister amid widespread speculation that she will be sacked or given the opportunity to resign. She flies back from the Kenyan capital Nairobi after her meetings in Uganda were cancelled. | |
| The Israeli newspaper Haaretz also reported that during her stay in the country she visited an Israeli military field hospital in the occupied Golan Heights. Britain does not recognise Israeli control of the area seized from Syria. | The Israeli newspaper Haaretz also reported that during her stay in the country she visited an Israeli military field hospital in the occupied Golan Heights. Britain does not recognise Israeli control of the area seized from Syria. |
| Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, wrote to May on Wednesday night demanding further details of Patel’s meetings in Israel, saying he had been told the former secretary of state met British consulate officials in Jerusalem, which he said made it plain that the Foreign Office did know she was in the country. | Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, wrote to May on Wednesday night demanding further details of Patel’s meetings in Israel, saying he had been told the former secretary of state met British consulate officials in Jerusalem, which he said made it plain that the Foreign Office did know she was in the country. |
| “I would like to know the facts of this case, because it is very unusual. I was told that the Foreign Office deliberately asked Downing Street to remove details of the briefing she received from Foreign Office officials when she was in Israel,” Watson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. | “I would like to know the facts of this case, because it is very unusual. I was told that the Foreign Office deliberately asked Downing Street to remove details of the briefing she received from Foreign Office officials when she was in Israel,” Watson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. |
| “If true, it shows that there was knowledge that Priti Patel was running a sort of independent foreign policy earlier, and that she’s not been sacked for breaching the ministerial code in doing that, but she’s been sacked because it became public that she was doing that.” | “If true, it shows that there was knowledge that Priti Patel was running a sort of independent foreign policy earlier, and that she’s not been sacked for breaching the ministerial code in doing that, but she’s been sacked because it became public that she was doing that.” |