- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Keerthi Mohan
A FORMER TORY leader has said that London-born Priti Patel was appointed home secretary partly because she “comes from the Indian subcontinent.”
While being interviewed by Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday (25), Iain Duncan Smith said Patel got the job because of three things.
“One, because she does believe in the project – we have to leave by the 31st and if you’ve got 100 days you cannot have people who say ‘Do you know what, I’m unsure about this?
“Two, I think it’s very important that Boris has somebody in there who represents, now, the changing nature of Britain. She’s a woman, she’s also comes from the Indian subcontinent, I mean, this is really important.
“And three, I think really importantly is, he’s got a wider agenda than just Brexit.”
Smith’s comments, however, were inaccurate.
Patel’s parents moved to the UK from Uganda in the 1960s and are of Gujarati origin. But Patel was born in Harrow, in Greater London.
The MP for Witham makes up one of four BAME ministers in Boris Johnson’s 23 member Cabinet.
The Home Secretary was previously fired by Theresa May from her post as International Development Secretary in 2017 for conducting secret meetings with Israeli officials while on holiday.
After her appointment, Patel told Sky News it is “great honour” to be considered for the post and said she would do everything in her power to keep the country safe.
Patel said: “I will do everything in my power to keep our country safe, our people secure, and also to fight the scourge of crime that we see on our streets.
“I look forward to the challenges that now lie ahead.”
She campaigned to leave the EU in 2016 and has been a vocal critic of former British prime minister Theresa May’s approach to Brexit.
The 47-year-old is a right-winger, voting against same-sex marriage and expressing support for the death penalty in the past.
