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Home Secretary Suella Braverman with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosts a roundtable discussion on policing at 10 Downing Street, London, Britain October 12, 2023. James Manning/Pool via REUTERS/File photo acquire license fees
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked his interior minister, Suella Braverman, on Monday after her criticism of the police handling of a pro-Palestinian march divided his party and threatened his own authority.
Under fire from opposition MPs and members of the ruling Conservative Party who wanted to expel Braverman, Sunak appeared to have proposed a long-planned reshuffle to recruit allies and remove ministers he said were not not efficient.
The ever-controversial Braverman challenged Sunak last week in an unauthorized article accusing police of “double standards” during protests, suggesting they were tough on right-wing demonstrators but soft on pro-Palestinian demonstrators .
The opposition Labor Party said the friction had fueled tensions between a pro-Palestinian protest and a far-right counter-protest on Saturday, when nearly 150 people were arrested.
“Rishi Sunak asked Suella Braverman to leave the government and she agreed,” a government source said.
CAMERON AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE?
She was replaced by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who was seen heading towards Sunak’s Downing Street office on Monday.
In what would be a surprise, the Telegraph newspaper has reported that former Prime Minister David Cameron is to be appointed Foreign Minister.
Braverman’s dismissal will anger some right-wing conservatives in the party, who believe his criticism of the police was justified, and Sunak may try to rein them in by suggesting it was his language and not his arguments that were false.
The move comes just days before the Government and Home Office find out whether they have succeeded in one of their key policy areas: winning a legal battle in the Supreme Court to be able to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Sunak is expected to make more changes to his cabinet, bringing in allies and sacking some ministers who his Downing Street office says have not performed as well as he wanted in their jobs. departments.
Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Kate Holton and Andrew Cawthorne
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