Suella Braverman has been accused of daring No 10 to sack her with provocative comments designed to cement her position as the rightwing frontrunner to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader.
Former ministers and Tory insiders claim that the home secretary is deliberately making unauthorised statements on homelessness, demonstrations and multiculturalism to woo the party’s hard-right base.
The prime minister has refused to endorse Braverman’s claims that rough sleeping is sometimes a “lifestyle choice” and the flagship criminal justice bill has been delayed amid resistance from some cabinet ministers over her measures to stop tents being given to homeless people. Ministers have also refused to repeat Braverman’s description of pro-Palestinian demonstrations as “hate marches”.
Colleagues suspect Braverman has calculated that she has little to lose by making hard-hitting statements that appeal to the party membership.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Suella Braverman has been accused of daring No 10 to sack her with provocative comments designed to cement her position as the rightwing frontrunner to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader.
Former ministers and Tory insiders claim that the home secretary is deliberately making unauthorised statements on homelessness, demonstrations and multiculturalism to woo the party’s hard-right base.
One former minister told the Guardian: “It is as if she wants to be fired so she can get on with a leadership bid … If she is tied to the government for too long, she will have to carry some of the blame for Rishi’s failure – and few people think he will win a general election outright.”
However, Braverman is closely tied to Sunak through his promise to “stop the boats” and the court battle, expected to conclude in mid December, which will decide whether the government can deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
If the government loses, there will be pressure from Braverman’s backers in two hard-right Tory factions – the Common Sense Group and the New Conservatives – to leave the European convention on human rights (ECHR).
In the Commons, Keir Starmer openly suggested Braverman should not be in her job, saying Sunak “cannot be a serious prime minister” if he continues with the home secretary pursuing “her divisive brand of politics”.
The original article contains 927 words, the summary contains 222 words. Saved 76%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!