Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, has hit out at the appointment of Priti Patel as the new international development minister.
“Priti Patel’s appointment as DFID lead is deeply concerning for those of us who believe in a liberal, rights-based development agenda.
“Not only has Ms Patel expressed support for the death penalty and voted against same-sex marriage, she has also previously called for DFID to be scrapped and for the development agenda to be solely focused on new private sector investment opportunities.
“As the internationalist party which in Coalition brought in the legislation committing us to 0.7% GNI spending on international development, the Liberal Democrats will be keeping a very close eye on DfID-sceptic Ms Patel as she takes on her new role,” said Brake
