Rishi Sunak faces Prime Minister’s Questions with Conservative allies attempting to play down the impact of former home secretary Suella Braverman’s scathing attack on his leadership after he sacked her.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been given plenty of ammunition as he goes head to head with the Prime Minister on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Mrs Braverman accused Mr Sunak in a parting broadside of being “uncertain” and “weak”.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt rejected Mrs Braverman’s trenchant criticism of the Prime Minister’s handling of the migrant crisis.
“What the British people are interested in is not the dramas in Westminster, but whether the Government is actually delivering,” he said.
“And control of our borders is something that is non-negotiable.
“What we have seen this year is the toughest legislation ever on illegal migration, small boat crossings down by a third.
“The Prime Minister and the Government will remain relentlessly focused on delivering our pledge to stop those crossings.”
A reshuffle on Monday saw Mrs Braverman ousted and former prime minister David Cameron brought back as Foreign Secretary, with Mr Sunak hailing a new “strong and united team” in Government.
In a letter to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, Mrs Braverman – whose leadership ambitions are no secret – issued a rallying cry to the party’s right with a call for an “authentic conservative agenda”.
The former minister claimed she had agreed a deal to back Mr Sunak and serve as home secretary “on certain conditions”, such as introducing measures to override the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act (HRA) in legislation to stop small boats crossing the Channel.
“You have manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies,” she wrote, adding: “Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so. Or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises.”
She accused him of a “betrayal of your promise to the nation that you would do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop the boats” and said his response to the pro-Palestinian protests showed he is “uncertain, weak, and lacking in the qualities of leadership that this country needs”.
We are a united party. The Cabinet is a Cabinet of unity— Treasury minister Gareth Davies
Treasury minister Gareth Davies said he did not agree with “some of the characterisations” in Mrs Braverman’s “very personal letter”.
“We are a very broad church and we draw strength from every part, and that’s what you saw with the reshuffle this week from the Prime Minister, drawing on the talents and strength from across the party,” he told LBC.
“As relates to the letter, it’s clearly a very personal letter. I don’t agree or recognise some of the characterisations that have been written in it, from working with the Prime Minister…
“We are a united party. The Cabinet is a Cabinet of unity, speaking with one voice, and you will see that going into the next election.”
Meanwhile, Esther McVey confirmed she is leaving her GB News presenting role after being given a Cabinet Office post, informally dubbed the “minister for common sense”.
She had hosted a show alongside her husband, fellow Tory MP Philip Davies.
She said: “The Prime Minister asked me to join his Government to help bring about the common-sense changes the country needs.
“Given the scale of the challenges we face, it is incumbent on all of us to do what we can, and I will roll up my sleeves and do my best for the Government and the country.”
