Oxfam scandal: No 10 refuses to say if it has full confidence in DfID officials
Downing Street has refused to say it has full confidence in senior Government officials after a former Cabinet minister claimed they knew about allegations of sex abuse by aid workers.
Oxfam chiefs are meeting International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt for crisis talks following claims of sexual misconduct by its staff.
The charity is facing mounting criticism over its handling of sex allegations, but has denied it tried to cover up the use of prostitutes by workers in Haiti in 2011.
We have not and would not provide a positive reference for any of those who were dismissed or resigned as a result of the Haiti case. https://t.co/341NsNRLhF
-- Oxfam International (@Oxfam) February 10, 2018
Former aid secretary Priti Patel said on Sunday that "people knew in DfID (Department for International Development)" about wider problems of sex abuse in the aid sector.
Ms Patel said she had not been aware of allegations about Oxfam but had raised directly concerns about abuse in the sector.
Asked if the Prime Minister Theresa May retained full confidence in senior DfID officials, a No 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister, of course, has full confidence in the Secretary of State to lead this department, a department which has already taken action on this issue."
