 Patel said her comments had been taken out of context.Journalist Eilis O'Hanlon criticised the media's characterisation of Patel's comments as a "manipulative, sinister media-manufactured campaign of character assassination", further elaborating that the "divide between fact and comment broke down entirely in response to Priti Patel's comments".In March 2019, Patel backed a pamphlet published by the TaxPayers' Alliance which called for the international development budget to be reformed, and for the UK alone to decide what constitutes aid, rather than international organisations.