A top Tory MP has defended the controversial re-appointment of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary just days after she was sacked for breaching the ministerial code.
James Claverley, the Foreign Secretary, said the right-wing Conservative MP apologised for her "mistake" after sharing an official document on a personal email with a backbencher.
Rishi Sunak was swift to re-appoint Braverman to the Home Office during his first Cabinet. It comes as the Liberal Democrats have called for a Cabinet Office probe into the return of Braverman.
Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: "Suella Braverman's appointment makes a mockery of Rishi Sunak's claims to be bringing integrity to Number 10.
"There must be a full independent inquiry by the Cabinet Office into her appointment, including any promises Sunak made to her behind closed doors.
"If it is confirmed that Suella Braverman repeatedly broke the ministerial code and threatened national security, she must be sacked. A Home Secretary who broke the rules is not fit for a Home Office which keeps the rules."
While Cleverly said Braverman was given the keys back to the Home Office as he wants an "experience" minister in post, despite her having been in the post for only six weeks before she was forced to quit.
Cleverly 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 "integrity, professionalism and accountability," Cleverly said: "So 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."
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