Katy Balls Katy Balls

Is Sunak heading for a showdown over Rwanda?

[Getty Images]

When the Prime Minister first assembled his cabinet, the most controversial appointment was Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. She had only just left the role under Liz Truss after she admitted sending an official document from a personal email account. But when Truss fell, Braverman called for Rishi Sunak rather than a Boris Johnson restoration. She was back in the Home Office after less than a week.

‘It’s either stop the boats or leave the ECHR,’ says one senior Tory

Some suspected a grubby deal between the two, but Sunak had plenty of reasons to want Braverman back. While critics accuse her of harbouring unsubtle leadership ambitions, her place in the cabinet keeps an important part of the Tory coalition on side – even if it comes with downsides. Every now and again, she’ll say something controversial that grabs attention. But for the quiet Sunak, this can be useful. It helps his party defend itself against attacks from the right.

This week, Braverman faced allegations of breaking the ministerial code again, this time by asking civil servants to investigate arranging a special one-on-one speed awareness course for her, rather than her attending in a group. That a cabinet career could be threatened on such a technicality was seen by many Tories as proof that the civil service is in open revolt, leaking and briefing against ministers and making the country ungovernable.

But the bigger problem for Sunak in the Home Office is not personnel – it’s policy. Figures this week show net migration has surged to more than double pre-Brexit figures. When the referendum campaign promised controlled immigration, almost everyone presumed this meant the number would fall. Instead, it’s on course for an historic high.

The government does not, of course, set the numbers. It sets the criteria for entry (salary level, type of job), then sees how many people come.

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