James Cleverly replaces Suella Braverman as home secretary after PM sacks her in reshuffle
Suella Braverman has been sacked as home secretary – with James Cleverly appointed as her replacement.
She was asked to leave the job this morning by Rishi Sunak.
Mr Cleverly, who had been foreign secretary, was moved to take over the Home Office brief.
Follow live for updates and analysis on reshuffle
Shortly after, former prime minister David Cameron was appointed foreign secretary – and handed a “barony” so he can serve in government again.
A former prime minister returning to government in this way is highly unusual.
In a statement released after her sacking, Ms Braverman said: “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as home secretary. I will have more to say in due course.”
Mr Cleverly later said: “It’s been a huge privilege to serve as foreign secretary. And in that time, I’ve worked very closely with my colleagues in the Home Office cracking down on illegal migration, reducing the number of small boat arrivals.
“And now, as the home secretary, I’m absolutely committed to stopping the boats, as we promised, but also making sure that everybody in the UK feels safe and secure, going around, going about their daily business, knowing that the government is here to protect them. So it’s a fantastic job and it’s a real privilege to serve.”
Asked if he would distance himself from the words used by his predecessor, he added: “Well, I intend to do this job in the way that I feel best protects the British people and our interests.
“I have had a very good conversation with the prime minister, who’s made it very clear that [he] wants us to deliver on our promises to stop the boats, to the British people, make sure everybody feels secure in their lives. Thank you very much.
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron walks outside 10 Downing Street
Today marks the second time Ms Braverman has lost the job of home secretary – after she resigned from Liz Truss’s government breaking the ministerial code. Mr Sunak reappointed her less than a week later when he took over as prime minister.
Last week, Ms Braverman wrote a newspaper article that accused the police of “playing favourites” as she criticised the Metropolitan Police’s handling of a controversial pro-Palestinian march for Armistice Day.
The prime minister came under pressure to act after Ms Braverman was accused of undermining the operational independence of – and public confidence in – the police.
Critics, from both opposition parties and fellow Tory MPs, called Ms Braverman’s comments “offensive” and “inflammatory”.
She had also come under criticism in previous weeks for saying that homeless people living in tents was a “lifestyle choice”.
Sky News deputy political editor Sam Coates has heard it was these comments that tipped the prime minister over the edge.
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Over the weekend, far-right protesters clashed with police in Westminster. Elsewhere, pro-Palestinian marches also ended with arrests.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, armed forces minister James Heappey became the latest member of the government to distance themselves from Ms Braverman’s words – joining Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
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In a post on the Conservative Party’s social media, it claims Mr Sunak’s reshuffle today “strengthens his team in government to deliver long-term decisions for a brighter future”.
But the move to sack Ms Braverman will anger some in the party. Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns said on X: “I support Suella Braverman. Sacked for speaking the truth. Bad call by Rishi caving in to the left!”
On the other side of the debate, some MPs welcomed the change in direction. Former health secretary Matt Hancock said: “Excellent for the Conservatives, showing Rishi Sunak will fight the election on the centre ground.”
As well as Ms Braverman being sacked, a number of junior ministers also left government.
Nick Gibb, who has been a minister in the Deparment for Education for much of the past decade, announced he was standing down.
Neil O’Brien said he had asked to return to the backbenches from his role as a junior minister in the Department for Health and Social Care.
Will Quince also announced that he would step down as a junior minister in DHSC, and Jesse Norman said he would be standing down as a DfT minister.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said: “Suella Braverman has now been sacked twice as home secretary.
“Rishi Sunak [should] never have re-appointed her in first place. He was warned against it & was warned on the damage she was doing.
“He went along with her undermining the police. Buck still stops with this weak PM.”
A judo Olympian has said her family is “devastated” after the discovery of body in the search for her missing brother.
Lubjana Piovesana, 28, appealed for help to find her younger sibling, Luis, 26, on Saturday. He had not been seen since the early hours of Friday morning.
A body was found in the River Frome near Napier Road in Eastville, Bristol, at around 6pm today, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Formal identification is yet to take place, the force added.
In a post on Instagram, Ms Piovesana wrote: “Hello everyone, Luis has been found.
“We are completely devastated but he has passed away.
“I am grateful for everyone’s support. And I am so sorry this happened.
“Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone. He will be remembered by us all.”
The post was signed off with a dove emoji.
Luis Piovesana did not have any money or his mobile phone with him when he went missing, police said. Pics: Avon & Somerset Police
Mr Piovesana was last seen at around 3am on Friday at the Eastgate retail park, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from where the body was found.
He had travelled there by taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude’s, a 10-minute drive away.
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The 26-year-old’s family spent the weekend searching for him, and asked people to check their sheds and gardens.
His partner, Laurin Bohler, said loved ones had travelled from Birmingham to help.
Mounted officers and police drones were also involved in the investigation.
Ms Piovesana competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team, and defeated British competitor Lucy Renshall in the women’s -63kg judo event at the Paris Olympics last year.
A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.
Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.
Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.
Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.
While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.
He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
‘Last time on their school run’
During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.
He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.
Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.
Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.
“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.
The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.
“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.
“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”
Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.
He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.
The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.
‘The rock of our family’
In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.
She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.
“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.
“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”
Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.
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Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.
“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.
Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.
In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.
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