THE SNP have said Rishi Sunak has “blown his credibility and broken his promise of integrity” by appointing and keeping Suella Braverman in government.
Braverman and the UK Government have both been under pressure regarding the Home Secretary’s breaches of the ministerial code.
Having initially left her role due to breaching security rules relating to email use, Braverman was subsequently reappointed to the Cabinet once Sunak took over as Prime Minister.
She was caught sending veteran backbench MP Sir John Hayes an official document from a personal email account.
The Home Secretary accidentally copied in someone she believed was Hayes’s wife but was in fact an aide to Conservative MP Andrew Percy.
SNP MP Stuart McDonald has said that Sunak has “engulfed the Tory government in sleaze and scandal” by doing a backroom deal with Braverman.
He said: “Rishi Sunak has blown his credibility, and broken his promise of integrity, by doing a dodgy backroom deal with Suella Braverman to shore up his own position.
“The Prime Minister has engulfed the Tory government in sleaze and scandal within days of entering Downing Street. He is distracting the UK Government from the essential task of fixing the Tory economic crisis by keeping Braverman in her role.”
Speaking on Sunday, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove (below) insisted he was “more than satisfied” with her reappointment as Home Secretary.
His comments come as Labour demand the UK Government publish its assessments of Braverman’s sharing of a sensitive document.
Gove told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg’s programme: “When we publish everything, we also potentially publish information that can compromise the effective operation, not just of government, but of national security itself.
“I also, critically, want to ensure that what we don’t do is, on the basis of the imperfect information that is in the public domain, rush to judgement in a way that would seem to me to be inappropriate.”
Gove said the Home Secretary was “absolutely” a politician of integrity and that she “deserves a second chance”.
McDonald has called on the UK Government to “ensure maximum transparency” and joined the call to publish “all relevant information relating to the Home Secretary’s leaks and breaches”.
He continued: “And the Home Secretary must come to parliament to answer MPs’ questions.
“The longer this scandal goes on, the clearer it is Scotland needs independence to escape the damage of Westminster control and get rid of sleazy Tory governments for good.
“With independence, Scotland can leave the hostile environment behind, and ensure an open, welcoming system of migration that supports our values and benefits our economy.”
Questions have also been raised about the Home Secretary’s account that she immediately reported the mistake which led to her initial resignation.
An email obtained by the BBC showed she had asked the recipient of a message sent in error to “ignore and delete”.
Confronted with the email, Gove said that it was “standard practice” and suggested Braverman was facing opposition because she is “brave” and “making changes”.
Sunak has previously said he is "confident" that the Home Secretary has "learned from her mistake" and that the Conservative Party was "united".
No 10 has been contacted for comment.
