The debacle concerning Suella Braverman makes the front page of most papers today after No. 10 confirmed that the Home Secretary had failed to get sign off for a Times op-ed on police bias published earlier this week. Despite Downing Street using Thursday’s lobby briefing to say that Braverman and her team had ignored a No. 10 request to tone down the piece, the Prime Minister has said he still has confidence in his Home Secretary. Given several Tory MPs and anonymous government ministers have joined in with calls from opposition parties for Sunak to sack Braverman, the question in Westminster is how long this current position can hold.
Jeremy Hunt has become the latest Cabinet minister to distance himself from Braverman’s comments. This morning he said that the Home Secretary’s words ‘are not words that I myself would have used’.
Sunak has no easy option when it comes to what to do next
As for how the next few days pan out, today Downing Street is expected to look into the process around which the op-ed came to be published despite No. 10 aides raising concerns with the Home Office over its contents. It follows that there could be conversations between the two sides later today.
However, those hoping Braverman will be shown the door before the weekend – and Saturday’s pro-Palestine protest – are likely to be left disappointed. If she were to be moved, it’s more likely to happen in a reshuffle. As I previously reported, the much-delayed reshuffle is expected to take place before Christmas. Now the King’s Speech is done, there is talk of it coming as soon as next week.
As tends to be the case with such decisions, nothing is definite yet but it is under serious consideration. A reshuffle so soon after the Times article would mean that the main focus among MPs would be whether Braverman is moved.
There are two camps of opinion here: on the one hand, MPs on the right of the party loyal to the Home Secretary who think she should stay and then, on the other, MPs and ministers who believe her antics have gone too far and she needs to be moved or Sunak looks weak. Unfortunately for Braverman, after this week there are more MPs currently in the latter camp. ‘A lot of us have had enough,’ says a minister.
It means that Sunak has no easy option when it comes to what to do next. If Braverman stays in a reshuffle, he will be accused of being weak and a walkover. If he moves her – or even sacks her – he risks a revolt on the right of the party.
What’s more, the Supreme Court will return its verdict on Wednesday as to whether the Rwanda scheme is lawful. If the Supreme Court does side with the government, then deportations to Rwanda could come as soon as early February. But if it agrees with the Court of Appeal ruling that the scheme is unlawful, the policy will be close to dead in its current form.
Should the government fail, Sunak will be facing a party that is fast losing hope in its own chances for victory at the next election. Sunak would likely face demands from his party to take the UK out of the ECHR. Were Braverman on the backbenches, she would be well placed to lead those calls. It means we are heading for a high stake week in politics.
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