Suella Braverman has whipped up a fresh storm of controversy with comments on rough sleepers, pro-Palestinian protesters and police.
It marks the latest chapter in Ms Braverman’s rapid rise to power and controversial time in one of the cabinet’s top jobs.
Here Sky News looks at the rows that have overshadowed her time in the role.
Pro-Palestinian protesters ‘hate marchers’
The home secretary has described pro-Palestinian protesters as “hate marchers”.
In an article for The Times newspaper, she went even further, adding: “I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza.
“They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups – particularly Islamists – of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland.
“Also, disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday’s march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.”
In response, one former Tory cabinet minister said: “This is wholly offensive and ignorant of where people in Northern Ireland stand on the issues of Israel and Gaza.”
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She also accused police of being biased in favour of left-wing protesters.
She claimed: “Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response, yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored even when clearly breaking the law.”
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Braverman criticises pro-Palestinian protests
Homeless tents a ‘lifestyle choice’
Ms Braverman stoked controversy with her claims rough sleeping is a “lifestyle choice” and outlined plans to restrict homeless people from using tents.
The home secretary’s crackdown would have reportedly targeted “nuisance” tents, such as those blocking shop doorways, and would have meant charities handing out camping equipment faced being fined.
Pointing to San Francisco and Los Angeles in the US, Ms Braverman said these were examples of where “weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor”.
Her proposal was branded “cruel and ignorant”, with critics accusing her of seeking “to dehumanise people and create a scapegoat in society”.
Ms Braverman was accused of breaking the ministerial code of conduct by asking civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course after she was caught speeding in 2022.
Mr Sunak said that after receiving a letter from Ms Braverman – in which she apologised for causing “distraction” – his decision was “these matters do not amount to a breach of the ministerial code”.
She told The Spectator magazine: “I do have some reservations. Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants.”
Her comments reportedly sparked a furious backlash in New Delhi and were said to have almost torpedoed trade deal talks.
Describing demonstrators, she claimed those taking part included “the Labour Party, it’s the Lib Dems, it’s the coalition of chaos, it’s the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, dare I say, the anti-growth coalition that we have to thank for the disruption that we are seeing on our roads today”.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper branded Ms Braverman’s words “astonishing”, adding: “The home secretary actually talked about a coalition of chaos, we can see it in front of us as we speak.”
It came amid another controversy as Labour accused her of being silent on Channel crossings and overcrowding at the Manston processing centre in Kent, where outbreaks of MRSA and diphtheria had been been reported.
Even her colleagues held back from endorsing her comments, with immigration minister Robert Jenrick telling Sky News:“In a job like mine, you have to choose your words very carefully. And I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life.”
The letter claimed an “activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party” had prevented the government from tackling the issue.
The email, which prompted fury from the FDA civil servants union, had the home secretary’s name at the end, implying she had written and signed it.
However, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case later said someone else was responsible and insisted that Ms Braverman “did not see, sign off or sanction the email” before it was sent – while Conservative chairman Greg Hands apologised “for the error”.
Thefirst flight was set to take off in June 2022 with four people on board, but was halted after a number of legal challenges and an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights, which said the plan carried “a real risk of irreversible harm”.
But both her rhetoric and the policy have been heavily criticised, including by refugee charities. They have described the plans as “cruel and nasty” and argue they will do nothing to deter people from travelling across the Channel.
She also told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “What we’ve seen is a practice whereby vulnerable white English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes who are in challenging circumstances, being pursued and raped and drugged and harmed by gangs of British Pakistani men who’ve worked in child abuse rings or networks.”
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The remarks were also criticised as factually inaccurate given a Home Office-commissioned study in 2020 found that group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white males under 30.
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