Suella Braverman accused of ‘sowing the seeds of hatred’, as pressure remains for her to resign
Suella Braverman has been accused of “sowing the seeds of hatred” by Sir Keir Starmer after her comments about the police and pro-Palestinian marches.
The Labour leader took aim at the home secretary after she branded pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including one which took place on Saturday in central London, “hate marches” and accused the police of “double standards” in the way they handle protests.
Sir Keir said few people in public life had “done more recently to whip up division, set the British people against one another and sow the seeds of hatred and distrust than Suella Braverman”.
Follow live: Contact lost’ with Gaza hospital – as Israel offers to evacuate babies
“In doing so, she demeans her office,” he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.
Bringing the prime minister into view, Sir Keir said Ms Braverman and Rishi Sunak’s treatment of the police and protesters showed a “lack of respect for this country’s values and its principles” after the pair urged police to ban the Armistice Day demonstration.
It follows calls from numerous senior political figures for Ms Braverman to resign, after they blamed her for violence that broke out in the capital.
On Saturday, a total of 126 people were arrested in London.
This included 92 people who were arrested in Pimlico, central London. The Metropolitan Police said they were part of a large group of counter-protesters who tried to reach the main pro-Palestinian march in the capital.
Police later said the arrests included a number of pro-Palestine protesters who were detained after a group broke away from the main demonstration.
The demonstrators were wearing face coverings and firing fireworks, some of which struck police officers in the face, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.
Suella Braverman is facing pressure to resign
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the scenes of disorder were a “direct result of the home secretary’s words”, adding that the police’s job had been made much harder as a consequence.
While shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for “calm”, with a swipe at Mrs Braverman for fuelling tensions.
“Everyone must reflect on the impact of their words and actions. It is the responsibility of all of us to bring people together over this weekend, not divide and inflame,” she posted on social media.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was one of those in attendance at the march.
Addressing crowds from on top of a fire engine near Vauxhall, he said Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman’s attempt to stop the march from going ahead has been “shamed”.
“It seems that there’s one million of us here today in London showing our solidarity with the people of Palestine, so Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak’s attempt to stop this has been shamed for what it is,” he said.
“They should be ashamed also (of) their vote on the United Nations when they wouldn’t even support a call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Shame on them.”
Ms Braverman asserted that she had given police her “full backing” at a meeting with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley on the eve of Armistice Day.
Read more:
Deepfake audio of Sadiq Khan is not a criminal offence
Leaked messages reveal scale of civil war between Tory MPs
Suella Braverman’s long list of controversies
Despite this, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said the far-right had been “emboldened” by Ms Braverman in a post on X.
He wrote: “The far right has been emboldened by the home secretary. She has spent her week fanning the flames of division. They are now attacking the police on Armistice Day.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Thousands gather for pro-Palestinian march
“The home secretary’s position is untenable. She must resign.”
Nine officers were injured as they prevented a crowd of mainly “football hooligans” reaching the Cenotaph, with Mr Twist calling their “extreme violence” towards the police “extraordinary and deeply concerning”.
Officers later clashed with protesters from both sides in Chinatown and Victoria station.
Mr Twist said “a week of intense debate about protest and policing” helped “increase community tensions”.
‘Rishi Sunak is responsible’
On Friday, Mr Sunak maintained “full confidence” in his home secretary, even after some ministers had already distanced themselves from her after she claimed some people were homeless as a “lifestyle choice”.
He defied calls from Labour and the Liberal Democrats to sack Ms Braverman, but there has been speculation that a ministerial reshuffle could see the home secretary moved.
Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP who has family in Gaza, said the blame for any trouble caused by far-right groups lay with Mr Sunak.
Pro-palestinian protesters march across central London
“As the police in central London work to contain the far-right, and everyone starts to blame Suella Braverman, just remember who chose to not only give her the job but also chose not to sack her,” she wrote on Saturday.
“Rishi Sunak is as, if not more, responsible for what happens today”.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn are appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am today.
Head prosecutor Ekele Iheanacho objected to bail by highlighting Gambaryan’s questionable attempt to get a new passport, allegedly due to a stolen previous one.
The draft law aims to govern crypto asset service providers, crypto asset platform operations, crypto asset storage, and crypto asset buying, selling and transfer transactions.
Politics
Sir Keir Starmer insists he is ‘trustworthy’ – as new voter offer compared with abandoned leadership pledges
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he can be trusted to deliver his six pledges to voters – despite abandoning many of the promises that saw him elected Labour leader.
In an interview with Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, Sir Keir repeatedly defended his decision to “adjust” some of the 10 pledges he made to party members when seeking to succeed Jeremy Corbyn following Labour’s disastrous 2019 general election result.
The Labour leader said: “When the facts change, the circumstances change. Good leaders know you have to adapt and change with it.”
The Labour leader was speaking following a major pre-election event in Essex, where he set out the “first steps” of a Labour government before the public heads to the polls.
Politics latest: Sunak hit with blunt question – as Starmer outlines pledges
The six targets, which have been compared to the pledge card Sir Tony Blair put to voters before the 1997 general election, are to deliver economic stability, cut NHS waiting lists, crack down on anti-social behaviour, recruit 6,500 new teachers, launch a new border security command and set up publicly-owned Great British Energy.
Sir Keir said the programme was “going to be hard” to achieve, adding that the public could expect to see the promises materialise within two terms of a Labour government.
The promises have also been compared to the 10 pledges Sir Keir made when he was seeking to become leader – many of which have now been diluted or abandoned.
Among the promises he made in the 2020 leadership election that have since been scaled back are bringing back free tuition and nationalising key public utilities.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What are Labour’s six pledges?
‘Junked pretty much every pledge’
Asked whether he was “trustworthy” given he had “junked pretty much every pledge you were elected Labour leader on”, Sir Keir replied: “You’ll know that for each of the 10 pledges, there’s about two or three sitting under them.
“That’s about 30 commitments, of which a few have been adjusted. The vast majority are in place, but I accept that some of them have been adjusted.”
Read more:
Keeping lid on promises now may serve Labour well in future
What are Labour’s pledges for government?
He drew comparisons with Liz Truss – who survived just 44 days as prime minister after her economic strategy unravelled – saying: “I think the public might be less trusting than you suggest of someone who says, ‘well, I said I’d do this, the economy has now been damaged, but I’m going to do it anyway, even though we can’t afford it’.
“I honestly don’t think that builds trust and confidence because the public know the circumstances have changed.”
‘No clear, measurable targets’
While the pledges have been seen as an expansion of the five “missions” Sir Keir laid out last year, he nevertheless faced questions that his new set of promises lacked the specificity of those promised by Sir Tony nearly three decades ago.
Rigby highlighted to Sir Keir how the former Labour prime minister promised to cut class sizes to 30 or under and cut NHS waiting lists by 100,000.
“When I look at yours, it’s economic stability, new border security, set up GB Energy,” she said.
“There’s no clear, measurable targets. Only one number on it, only one with the teachers. It’s vague enough so that you can’t be seen to break promises.
“It’s shifty isn’t it?”
👉 Tap here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈
‘Not going to make a promise I don’t think I can deliver’
The Labour leader pointed to the fact he was promising 40,000 new appointments and to recruit 6,500 teachers and denied he was “under-promising”.
“I’m not going to make a promise before an election, which I don’t think I can deliver after the election,” he said.
“I think the public in the last 14 years had far too much of people who say before an election they’ll deliver everything, and afterwards they don’t. We have to break that pattern.
“So that means I have to be clear now and say there are some things I can do, there are some things I can’t do. I want to say that before the election so that I can level with the public.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment12 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports1 month agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports7 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Environment1 year agoTesla advances Powerwall pilot project with German electric company