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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
John Stevens

Suella Braverman MUST be sacked if she told aide to mislead the Mirror, says Angela Rayner

Suella Braverman must be sacked if she instructed her aide to mislead the Mirror over her speeding row, Labour has demanded.

The Home Secretary last night refused to say whether she asked her Tory adviser to wrongly deny she had been caught driving too fast.

Rishi Sunak was accused of being “weak, weak, weak” as he struggled to make up his mind on whether to launch a sleaze probe into Mrs Braverman.

But Downing Street insisted he was not “dithering”.

Mrs Braverman was fined and had points put on her licence after she was caught driving too fast last summer.

But her aide insisted this was not the case when the Mirror contacted the minister about the offence seven weeks ago.

Angela Rayner demanded to know "how many strikes" before the Home Secretary is "out" (AFP via Getty Images)

The Tory special adviser denied four times that the Home Secretary had been done for speeding and claimed it was “nonsense”.

In the Commons yesterday, Angela Rayner demanded to know "how many strikes" before the Home Secretary is "out"?

The Labour deputy leader said: "Our constituents expect those who make the rules to follow the rules, especially the minister responsible for upholding the law.

"If the Home Secretary did authorise her special adviser to tell journalists that there was not a speeding penalty this would... amount to a breach of the ministerial code."

She added later: “If Suella Braverman is found to have breached the ministerial code she has to go.”

Labour MP Mike Amesbury said: “Why is the Prime Minister so weak and indecisive? He can't even refer this Home Secretary to his independent ethics adviser.

“The Prime Minister is Weak. Weak. Weak.”

Downing Street rejected suggestions that Mr Sunak is shilly-shallying over whether to launch a formal probe into Mrs Braverman's conduct.

Asked why the Prime Minister is dithering, his official spokesman told reporters: "I wouldn't characterise it like that.

"I think people would understand that it's right to gather all the facts before making a decision."

The Home Office last night declined to say whether Mrs Braverman had instructed her special adviser to tell the Mirror that she had not been done for speeding.

It also refused to say if the Home Secretary had made her aide aware of the fact she had been caught speeding before he issued the denial.

Mrs Braverman’s allies have warned she will “machine gun” Mr Sunak from the backbenches if he sacks her.

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