PRITI Patel’s depature as International Development Secretary was overdue. From the moment it was reported last week that she held unauthorised meetings with Israeli politicians accompanied by a powerful lobbyist, it was clear that she had respect for neither protocol nor common sense.
Theresa May should have sacked her on the spot, but characteristically let it drift.
At the time she was, perhaps understandably, preoccupied with sexual scandal sweeping through Westminster and the upper reaches of the Conservative party.
READ MORE: Theresa May's authority damaged again as Priti Patel finally resigns
She had just lost Sir Michael Fallon as her Defence Secretary, created an almighty row by installing her chief whip Gavin Williamson as his replacement, and saw the sharks circling her de facto deputy Damian Green.
But it is a Prime Minister’s job to be on top of many issues at once. In not sacking Ms Patel, Mrs May gave the impression of not being on top of anything.
Ms Patel went behind Downing Street’s back to hold a series of meetings without her officials.
She met the Prime Minister of Israel, and visited the occupied Golan Heights, which the UK has refused to recognise since Israel took them from Syria in 1967.
READ MORE: Did British Consulate staff meet 'rogue' ex-minister Patel in Jerusalem?
Back in the UK, she asked her officials to examine whether aid money could be sent to the Israeli army in the Golan.
Ms Patel compounded her wrongdoing by initially giving the impression there had been just a handful of chance encounters while on holiday in August.
In fact there were 12, and more on her return to the UK.
She falsely claimed Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was aware of her meetings in advance.
Downing Street was also misled, only learning key facts from the BBC’s excellent reporting.
Ms Patel’s freelance mission was a breach of the ministerial code and could have muddled UK foreign policy in one of the most sensitive areas of the world.
But Mrs May merely rebuked Ms Patel on Monday, and considered the matter closed.
That was wishful thinking by a Prime Minister too weak to sack a prominent Brexit supporter from her cabinet for fear of inflaming her unbiddable right-wing.
Mrs May then allowed Ms Patel to slip out of the country on Tuesday on a three-day trip to Africa, helping her avoid a grilling in the Commons.
After more details emerged that she had misled the Prime Minister on other matters, she was swiftly recalled from for a by-now inevitable denouement.
In the end, Ms Patel had the option of quitting rather than being sacked as she deserved.
“It is right that you have decided to resign,” Mrs May said in her parting whimper.
That this episode reflects badly on Ms Patel goes without saying, despite her “fulsome apology”.
But the greater damage is to Mrs May, showing how her weakness now breeds yet more weakness.
Alison Rowat: Pantomime season arrives early at 10 Downing Street
She is a paper premier, only nominally in charge of the country, hostage to the tensions and indiscipline in her own party.
Her government is in a death spiral. The nation deserves better.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel