A cabinet rift has opened up over the direction of Rishi Sunak’s government after Suella Braverman sparked fears she is pitching to be prime minister by setting out her hardline, right-wing vision of conservatism.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove rejected “strident” culture war attacks and warned the Tories that focusing on economic competence was the only way to win the general election, expected in 2024.
And senior Conservatives told The Independent that Ms Braverman was already “overpromoted” and a bad influence on the government – urging Mr Sunak to sack her while he still has the chance.
Warned by fellow Tories to “concentrate on the job”, Ms Braverman is reportedly frustrated that the cabinet has approved only one of her proposals to cut immigration amid infighting on how to tackle the problem.
The home secretary lashed out at “radical gender ideology”, woke activists’ attempts to make Britons “feel terrible about our past” and “the unexamined drive towards multiculturalism” in a wide-ranging speech to the National Conservativism conference.
But cabinet colleague Mr Gove told the same conference on Tuesday that the Tories must recognise that elections are won on economic delivery rather than the “strident” culture war attacks.
In an apparent rejection of Ms Braverman’s attacks on the “politically correct” left, her fellow cabinet minister said economics was “central” when it comes to “the boring and vulgar task of winning general elections”.
The levelling up secretary said: “The most important thing to do is to concentrate on the right economic policies, the right policies for public service delivery and so on.”
Asked about culture war issues, Mr Gove added: “There are certain principles you should defend, absolutely. And it is absolutely critical that we don’t deny biological reality or that we don’t feel that we should apologise for aspects of our past … But we should do so with the self-confidence that means we don’t need to be strident.”
Some Tory MPs accused her of focusing on her personal ambitions to succeed Mr Sunak, warning the prime minister not to listen to Ms Braverman’s allies in the right-wing Common Sense Group of Tory MPs.
A senior Tory MP told The Independent: “She can be as open as she likes [about her leadership ambitions] – she hasn’t got a prayer of becoming leader. She is overpromoted as it is.”
Calling her a “puppet” of the Common Sense Group, the former minister added: “It is time that the PM realised that the emperor has no clothes and sacks her. The unpleasant tone in her approach to immigration is not popular with many colleagues.”
Former justice secretary Robert Buckland also said Ms Braverman should “concentrate on the job” rather than giving speeches to the Tory right. Asked if Ms Braverman was trying to position herself as a future leader, Mr Buckland said: “The top job is filled by Rishi Sunak.”
Former cabinet minister David Davis also challenged Ms Braverman to focus on “fixing” the immigration system rather than bemoaning high net migration.
“There’s this criticism of immigration. Who is in charge of immigration? The home secretary and the Home Office,” he told The Independent. “So if you’re worried about it, fix it. That should be her focus.”
Sir John Hayes, the most senior Tory ally of Ms Braverman, called for his party to pursue “authentic” conservatism rather than the “sugar-free” version accepted “by our liberal masters” during his own speech to the right-wing conference on Tuesday.
Sir John, who chairs the Common Sense Group, warned that there was a “widening chasm between the people of Britain and the elite who profess to serve them”.
But senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, chair of the defence select committee, told The Independent: “It’s disappointing to hear these shrill, populist voices on the far right already dismiss our election prospects at the very time polls are starting to narrow. This tribal disloyalty only benefits Labour.”
It comes as The Telegraph reported that the Home Office has privately shared figures with No 10 suggesting more than 1.1 million foreign workers and students could legally arrive in Britain in 2024/25.
Ms Braverman is pushing for five proposals to cut legal migration – including raising the salary threshold for skilled workers and reducing the time foreign students can stay in the country, according to The Times.
But sources have said education secretary Gillian Keegan and chancellor Jeremy Hunt are blocking such moves, with only a proposal to stop foreign master’s students from bringing over family members said to be agreed upon.
Mr Gove, when it was put to him that net migration for this year could hit the 1 million mark, said: “I don’t think it will reach those figures.” But the housing secretary added that “the numbers recently have been at a level where there is an inevitable pressure on housing”.
Meanwhile, No 10 rejected a claim from Tory MP Danny Kruger at the conference that families with mothers and fathers staying together are “the only basis for safe and functioning society”. Asked if Mr Sunak agreed with Mr’s Kruger views about a “normative family”, the spokesperson replied: “No.”
The head of a US think tank also told the controversial conference that left-wing forces are “at war with the West”. Kevin Roberts, chair of Washington-based Heritage Foundation, attacked “globalists” and “ruling class contempt of everyday working families”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The public rightly expect us to control our borders and we remain committed to reducing net migration over time, while ensuring we have the skills our economy needs.”
