RISHI Sunak reinstalled Suella Braverman at the helm of the Home Office because he wants an “experienced” Home Secretary, James Cleverly has said, despite her having been in the post for only six weeks before she was forced to quit over a breach of the ministerial code.
The Foreign Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The Prime Minister clearly wants to make sure that he has experience at the top of the Home Office. That’s why he’s reappointed her.”
Asked if Braverman displayed the “integrity, professionalism and accountability” which Sunak promised in his first speech as Prime Minister, Cleverly said: “Yes, by saying that she made a mistake, by apologising for that mistake, for standing down, she did.
“The Prime Minister has taken her apology and he has decided that what he wants is an experienced Home Secretary that has got recent – very, very recent – experience at the Home Office.”
Cleverly further said that Sunak may delay the highly-anticipated financial statement due on Halloween.
He hinted that the new Prime Minister may put back the medium-term fiscal plan so he can ensure it “matches his priorities”.
Cleverly argued that a “short delay” to the plan and independent forecasts that had been brought forward to calm the spooked financial markets would not be a “bad thing at all”.
The move to reappoint Braverman will likely be welcomed by the Tory right, but it was immediately criticised by the opposition, as well as immigrant and refugee campaign groups.
Labour immediately hit out at her reappointment, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accusing the new Prime Minister of “putting party before country”.
“Our national security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos,” she said.
The LibDems called for a Cabinet Office probe into Braverman's return, saying it made a "mockery of Rishi Sunak’s claims to be bringing integrity to No 10".
“If it is confirmed that Suella Braverman repeatedly broke the ministerial code and threatened national security, she must be sacked," LibDem home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael (below) said.
Braverman also raised eyebrows as Home Secretary when she accused opposition parties of being the "anti-growth coalition” during a debate in Parliament on the Public Order Bill.
She told the Commons: “It’s the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, dare I say, the anti-growth coalition that we have to thank for the disruption that we are seeing on our roads today.”
At the Conservative Party conference earlier this month, Braverman told a fringe event: “I would love to be having a front page of The Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda. That’s my dream. That’s my obsession”.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon singled out the comments during her speech to conference in October, saying that she wanted to see a world where “those fleeing violence and oppression are shown compassion and treated like human beings, not shown the door and bundled onto planes like unwanted cargo”.
Zehrah Hasan, from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said it was “disappointing” to see Braverman return.
“It’s time we had a Home Secretary who acted with decency and compassion, rather than one who’s obsessed with demonising migrants to score headlines. During Braverman’s short but memorable time in office, she did just that, so its extremely disappointing to see her back in post," Hasan said.
Mark Davies, the head of communications and advocacy at the Refugee Council, said that Government policies on asylum seekers and refugees are “out of step with public opinion”.
“We sincerely hope ministers in the new Government are prepared to listen and engage on this issue in a way which reflects its importance and its impact on the lives of so many people.”
