British Minister Priti Patel ordered to fly home to be sacked

British Minister Priti Patel 

Priti Patel has landed at Heathrow Airport after being told to fly home cutting short an official trip to Uganda.

She is expected to be sacked as international development secretary as more embarrassing details emerged of her off-the-books meetings with Israeli politicians.

Civil servants in her department have been told to expect a new minister according to The Independent.

But it's not clear if she is heading straight to Downing Street with sources suggesting she is more likely to meet the PM later this evening.

Ms Patel was summoned back to London from Uganda and got into a ministerial car after landing at Heathrow.

Ms Patel flew back to London aboard a Kenya Airways plane

Her fate was sealed after it emerged she had failed to disclose two other meetings with senior Israelis.

She met the Israeli public security minister in Parliament in September and a senior official from the Israeli foreign ministry in New York a week later.

It also emerged she visited an Israeli field hospital in the Golan Heights on her “holiday” - the UK does not recognise the Israeli-occupied area.

The Foreign Office and Downing Street were unaware the meetings had taken place and diplomatic officials were not present.

It follows days of questions over her having apparently “gone rogue” during a “family holiday” in Israel in August.

 Ms Patel was forced to apologise after holding 12 meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials during the trip, without telling Downing Street, the Foreign Office or British diplomats in the region.

On her return, she pressed British officials to investigate ways to provide support to the Israeli Army’s humanitarian operations in the occupied Golan Heights.

Cabinet minister Priti Patel admits she held 'undisclosed' meetings while on holiday in Israel without telling the foreign office

Until late Tuesday afternoon, Number 10 had insisted Mrs May still had “full confidence” in Ms Patel, had accepted her apology and considered the matter “closed”.

But it emerged last night Theresa May only learned Ms Patel may have discussed giving money to the Israeli army with officials when it was reported in the media yesterday morning.

Labour’s Lord Falconer accused Ms Patel of “colluding” with the Israeli government.

Losing the prominent Leave supporter will give Theresa May a headache when it comes to reshuffling her carefully balanced cabinet.