Suella Braverman orders review into ‘political activism’ in policing
The home secretary has ordered a review into how “political activism” among officers, including actions like taking the knee, is impacting policing.
Suella Braverman has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to look into impartiality and written to police chiefs to remind them their “focus should be on tackling crime”.
In the letter, she highlighted cases where she believes public confidence has been damaged including policing gender-critical views on social media, conduct at political marches and officers taking the knee.
She told the Daily Telegraph newspaper she was concerned about police “pandering to politically correct causes”, telling the paper officers should not refer to rapists as “she” or “her” or dance with protesters.
Announcing the review on Saturday, Ms Braverman said: “The British people expect their police to focus on cutting crime and protecting communities – political activism does not keep people safe, solve crimes or support victims, but can damage public confidence.
Suella Braverman is concerned actions of officers are damaging public trust
“The review I’ve commissioned will explore whether the police getting involved in politically contentious matters is having a detrimental impact on policing. I will leave no stone unturned in ensuring policing acts for the benefit of the British public.”
But the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers in England and Wales, accused the government of constantly changing the goalposts and said policing should not be “kicked around like a political football”.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Instead of setting out serious and practical policies to tackle Tory failures, all the home secretary is doing is commissioning reports into her own political obsessions – and while she’s doing this, more criminals are being let off and more victims are being let down.”
Ms Braverman, who once railed against the “tofu-eating wokerati”, is regarded as a divisive figure for her remarks on so-called “culture war” issues.
She was previously reported to have intervened over a case in which five officers were sent to seize a collection of golliwog dolls from a pub by reprimanding the force involved.
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In a letter to Andy Cooke, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, she asked for his report to be prepared by the end of March.
“When officers adopt or participate in political or social campaigns, for example, by taking the knee, they risk losing the support of the public,” she wrote.
“This is not common sense policing and I hope that we can work together to prevent police, especially those in leadership positions, from committing themselves to more and more identity-related causes.”
She said involvement in “political matters” may include “commenting on and responding to commentary on contested issues, and the involvement of policing more generally in issues such as, but not limited to, ‘gender identity’ politics, critical race theory or climate activism.”
Police Federation deputy chair Tiffany Lynch said: “Policing should never be put on any political agenda and is too important to be kicked around like a political football.
“Our members want to go out there and serve communities in the best way possible, but need help when the government constantly changes the goalposts.
“One minute they want police officers to be more involved, the next they want them to act like robots.”
It came at the end of the government’s so-called crime week of linked announcements, including plans to make it easier for police chiefs to sack rogue officers and new powers to make criminals attend sentencing hearings.
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There is “no doubt” the UK “will spend 3% of our GDP on defence” in the next parliament, the defence secretary has said.
John Healey’s comments come ahead of the publication of the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on Monday.
This is an assessment of the state of the armed forces, the threats facing the UK, and the military transformation required to meet them.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously set out a “clear ambition” to raise defence spending to 3% in the next parliament “subject to economic and fiscal conditions”.
Mr Healey has now told The Times newspaper there is a “certain decade of rising defence spending” to come, adding that this commitment “allows us to plan for the long term. It allows us to deal with the pressures.”
A government source insisted the defence secretary was “expressing an opinion, which is that he has full confidence that the government will be able to deliver on its ambition”, rather than making a new commitment.
The UK currently spends 2.3% of GDP on defence, with Sir Keir announcing plans to increase that to 2.5% by 2027 in February.
This followed mounting pressure from the White House for European nations to do more to take on responsibility for their own security and the defence of Ukraine.
The 2.3% to 2.5% increase is being paid for by controversial cuts to the international aid budget, but there are big questions over where the funding for a 3% rise would be found, given the tight state of government finances.
While a commitment will help underpin the planning assumptions made in the SDR, there is of course no guarantee a Labour government would still be in power during the next parliament to have to fulfil that pledge.
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From March: How will the UK scale up defence?
A statement from the Ministry of Defence makes it clear that the official government position has not changed in line with the defence secretary’s comments.
The statement reads: “This government has announced the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the Cold War – 2.5% by 2027 and 3% in the next parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow, including an extra £5bn this financial year.
“The SDR will rightly set the vision for how that uplift will be spent, including new capabilities to put us at the leading edge of innovation in NATO, investment in our people and making defence an engine for growth across the UK – making Britain more secure at home and strong abroad.”
Sir Keir commissioned the review shortly after taking office in July 2024. It is being led by Lord Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and NATO secretary general.
The Ministry of Defence has already trailed a number of announcements as part of the review, including plans for a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command and a £1bn battlefield system known as the Digital Targeting Web, which we’re told will “better connect armed forces weapons systems and allow battlefield decisions for targeting enemy threats to be made and executed faster”.
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PM Sir Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary John Healey on a nuclear submarine earlier this year. Pic: Crown Copyright 2025
On Saturday, the defence secretary announced a £1.5bn investment to tackle damp, mould and make other improvements to poor quality military housing in a bid to improve recruitment and retention.
Mr Healey pledged to “turn round what has been a national scandal for decades”, with 8,000 military family homes currently unfit for habitation.
He said: “The Strategic Defence Review, in the broad, will recognise that the fact that the world is changing, threats are increasing.
“In this new era of threat, we need a new era for defence and so the Strategic Defence Review will be the vision and direction for the way that we’ve got to strengthen our armed forces to make us more secure at home, stronger abroad, but also learn the lessons from Ukraine as well.
“So an armed forces that can be more capable of innovation more quickly, stronger to deter the threats that we face and always with people at the heart of our forces… which is why the housing commitments that we make through this strategic defence review are so important for the future.”
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