THE UK's Home Secretary has been the victim of a "wicked and vicious bullying campaign" by the opposition, a Tory MP has claimed.
Lee Anderson praised Suella Braverman during Prime Minister's Questions as he referred to Labour as "bully boys".
On Monday Braverman signed a fresh multi-million-pound deal with France in a bid to curb Channel crossings.
The UK Government’s latest efforts aimed at tackling the migrant crisis come as the number of people arriving on the south coast after making the journey topped 40,000 for the year so far, with crossings continuing on Monday.
But critics accused the Government of “recycling the same failed response”, with Conservative MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke saying the deal “falls short of what is needed”.
There have been consistent calls from the opposition MPs for Braverman to go but Tory MP Anderson suggested the calls are part of a wider "bullying campaign".
He said: “We have a brilliant Home Secretary but the Deputy Prime Minister will be aware of a wicked, ambitious bullying campaign led by the opposition to get her sacked over the past four weeks or so.
“So can the Deputy Prime Minister please reassure me and the people of Ashfield, that the Home Secretary will be given all the tools that she needs to solve the migrant crisis and keep the bully boys out of Number 10?”
#PMQs reduced to a farce as it is misused by Tory MP Lee Anderson (Ashfield, 5,733 majority). He claims that Labour questioning Home Sec Suella Braverman's numerous breaches of the ministerial code is the equivalent of "bullying". pic.twitter.com/yIvvNwz6ZD
— Gerry Hassan 🇺🇦 (@GerryHassan) November 16, 2022
Dominic Raab, who is filling in for Rishi Sunak, replied: “We fully support the Home Secretary, the important measures she’s taking, whether it’s the Rwanda scheme, whether it’s implementing the Nationality and Borders Act, and whether it’s the new deal with France to make sure that we collaborate with our international partners on what is a shared issue, and the one thing that he can also rest assured is it will be opposed tooth and nail by the Labour Party opposite.”
Braverman was forced to resign under former prime minister Liz Truss over what emerged were several possible security breaches.
The Tory was away for less than a week before she was reappointed by Sunak who has resisted further calls for her to go.
Braverman, who is to the right of the party, has faced fierce criticism from the opposition MPs over her comments on making cannabis a Class A drug and continuing previous home secretary Priti Patel's Rwanda policy.
The plan means migrants deemed to have entered the UK "illegally" could be forced to go to the African nation instead.
But there are concerns over the cost of the programme, its effectiveness and the human rights record of Rwanda.
The UK Government insists it is a good deal for the UK and will disincentivise those crossing the English Channel.
