Suella Braverman: Tory party’s most divisive politician is out of government – but it won’t be last we hear from her

Published

2 years ago

November 13, 2023

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And another one bites the dust. Suella Braverman – one of the most divisive politicians of the age – has been sacked as home secretary.

It marks the fourth dramatic exit from Rishi Sunak’s cabinet in just over a year – after the departures of Dominic Raab, Nadhim Zahawi and Gavin Williamson.

It’s not exactly a good look for a prime minister who promised to bring accountability, integrity and professionalism to Downing Street.

Follow live: Sunak sacks Braverman as reshuffle begins

But Ms Braverman’s fiery rhetoric on things such as immigration, policing and homelessness was starting to rile even those within her own party.

After an inflammatory article in The Times in which she accused the Met Police of bias towards left-wing protesters, and made an offensive comparison to marches in Northern Ireland, the writing was on the wall.

Tory MPs called her an “embarrassment” and “ignorant”, and accused her of being on a mission to deliberately get herself sacked in order to launch a leadership pitch.

More called for her to go on Saturday, with Scottish First minister Humza Yousaf suggesting the far-right had been emboldened by her comments, as a group of counter-protesters using slogans like ‘England til I die’ clashed with police on Armistice Day, while a pro-Palestinian demo that Ms Braverman had called to be banned went off largely peacefully.

Deliberate or not, her position in one of the most senior cabinet roles was no longer considered tenable by Number 10, who had not fully signed off the Times piece.

And so she was sacked as home secretary – and not for the first time – marking the end of a short yet turbulent career on the Conservative frontbenches… at least for now.

Born to parents from Kenya and Mauritius and fluent in French, Ms Braverman’s political brand might seem unusual for someone of her background: she has risen through the ranks championing a hard Brexit, anti-immigration, “anti-woke” agenda.

But for someone who is currently making daily headlines, she was relatively unknown until a year ago.

The 43-year-old was first elected as the MP for Fareham in 2015 and spent three years on the backbenches before a brief stint as a junior minister in the Brexit department – a post from which she resigned over the “unacceptable terms” of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement.

The move won her favour with Boris Johnson, who upon being elected as prime minister made her attorney general – the chief legal advisor to the crown.

It was a fitting role for Ms Braverman, who studied Law at Cambridge University and the University of Paris before qualifying as an attorney in New York State.

During her time in the post, she faced criticism from the legal profession for backing the Internal Market Bill, which sought to override parts of the EU’s legal divorce deal and was described by critics as breaking international law.

But it was only when she was made home secretary that she really become a household name, as she repeatedly became the centre of so-called “culture wars” rows.

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Braverman’s long list of scandals

The job was marked with controversy from the beginning.

Just weeks into the post in September 2022, she declared it was her “dream and obsession” to deport refugees to Rwanda – triggering a backlash from those opposed to the controversial policy (or what Ms Braverman and her allies might like to call the “liberal elite”).

Indeed, Ms Braverman caused a stir just some weeks later as she defended the government’s controversial Public Order Bill with a bizarre attack on “the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati”, whom she blamed for protest disruption.

And her claim that the country faced an “invasion of our southern coast” in reference to Channel crossings also drew condemnation.

But the first big scandal came when just 43 days into the role, she was forced to resign – effectively sacked – because she had breached government security rules by sending an official document from her personal email to a backbench MP.

Ms Braverman said it was a mistake, but her resignation letter took aim at then prime minister Liz Truss, accusing her of breaking “key pledges that were promised to our voters”.

Read more:
Braverman’s long list of controversies

She would ultimately return to the top job just a week later under Mr Sunak, after the rapid collapse of the Truss administration.

The appointment was seen as a gamble, given Ms Braverman had originally backed Ms Truss over Mr Sunak in the leadership contest to replace Mr Johnson – after being knocked out early in the race herself.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Sunak of making a “grubby deal” at the expense of national security in order to ensure her support and keep her backers on the right of the party happy.

The PM denied the accusation, but regardless of whether that was the case, to what degree she has actually offered such support has been questionable.

Is Braverman running a leadership campaign?

While she is closely tied to the prime minister’s “stop the boats” pledge, Ms Braverman has undoubtedly proved to be a thorn in his side.

Her integrity has been called into question on many occasions, including when she was alleged to have asked her civil servants to arrange a private awareness course after she was caught speeding, and when she claimed grooming gang members are “almost all British Pakistani” – remarks seen as amplifying a far-right narrative and factually inaccurate.

Mr Sunak has been forced to distance himself from her language on several occasions, most recently declining to back her comments saying multiculturalism has “failed”, likening immigration to a “hurricane” and describing rough sleeping as a “lifestyle choice”.

So divisive have her words been that some of her colleagues have accused her of undermining the PM by running a leadership campaign, pointing to speeches at right-wing events such as the National Conservatism conference in May.

But until now, Mr Sunak has appeared unwilling to rein in his home secretary – possibly out of fear of a rebellion on the Conservative right if he takes action against her.

Ms Braverman is now free to lead that if she so wishes.

Having questioned the integrity of the operationally independent Met Police, Mr Sunak seems to have judged she has finally gone too far.

Doubling down on her description of pro-Palestinian protesters as “hate marches”, she wrote in The Times: “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.”

She also said: “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.”

It was enough to make even Priti Patel – Ms Braverman’s right-wing predecessor – make a not so thinly-veiled retort at the COVID inquiry about the operational independence of the police “and that we as politicians were not there to dictate directly to the police as to when to arrest people”.

Other MPs accused her of fanning the flames of hate, while Labour turned the heat on the prime minister himself and his judgement in keeping her in post.

Now she is out of government. And some people think that was her plan all along, so she can focus her efforts on being the Tory right’s next leadership candidate.

We may not know if that is true, but what is clear is that this isn’t the first time she has landed herself in hot water and, in or out of cabinet, it’s unlikely to be the last.

UK

Post Office scandal: Daughter has had ‘panic attacks’ since mum was accused of stealing

Published

4 hours ago

July 8, 2025

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Post Office scandal: Daughter has had 'panic attacks' since mum was accused of stealing

The daughter of a Post Office victim has told Sky News she suffered “dark thoughts of suicide” in the years after her mother was accused of stealing.

Kate Burrows was 14 years old when her mother, Elaine Hood, was prosecuted and subsequently convicted in 2003.

The first public inquiry report on the Post Office – examining redress and the “human impact” of the scandal – is due to be published today.

“I’ve suffered with panic attacks from about 14, 15 years old, and I still have them to this day,” Kate said.

“I’ve been in and out of therapy for what feels like most of my adult life and it absolutely categorically goes back to [what happened].”

Kate, along with others, helped set up the charity Lost Chances, supporting the children of Post Office victims. She hopes the inquiry will recognise their suffering.

“It’s important that our voices are heard,” she said. “Not only within the report, but in law actually.

“And then maybe that would be a deterrent for any future cover-ups, that it’s not just the one person it’s the whole family [affected].”

Her sister, Rebecca Richards, who was 18 when their mother was accused, described how an eating disorder “escalated” after what happened.

“When my mum was going through everything, my only control of that situation was what food I put in my body,” she said.

She also said that seeing her mother at court when she was convicted, would “stay with me forever”.

“The two investigators were sat in front of my dad and I, sniggering and saying ‘we’ve got this one’.

“To watch my mum in the docks handcuffed to a guard… not knowing if she was going to be coming home… that is the most standout memory for me.”

The sisters are hoping the inquiry findings will push Fujitsu into fulfilling a promise they made nearly a year ago – to try and help the children of victims.

Last summer, Kate met with the European boss of the company, Paul Patterson, who said he would look at ways they could support Lost Chances.

Despite appearing at the inquiry in November last year and saying he would not “stay silent” on the issue, Kate said there has been little movement in terms of support.

“It’s very much a line of ‘we’re going to wait until the end of the inquiry report to decide’,” she said.

“But Mr Patterson met us in person, looked us in the eye, and we shared the most deeply personal stories and he said we will do something… they need to make a difference.”

Fujitsu, who developed the faulty Horizon software, has said it is in discussions with the government regarding a contribution to compensation.

The inquiry will delve in detail into redress schemes, of which four exist, three controlled by the government and one by the Post Office.

Victims of the scandal say they are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chair of the inquiry, will recommend that the government and the Post Office are removed from the redress schemes as thousands still wait for full and fair redress.

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were “grateful” for the inquiry’s work, describing “the immeasurable suffering” victims endured and saying the government has “quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters”, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

UK

Drones are sending ‘overwhelming amounts’ of drugs into prisons – and could help inmates escape, report warns

Published

11 hours ago

July 7, 2025

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Drones are sending 'overwhelming amounts' of drugs into prisons - and could help inmates escape, report warns

Sophisticated drones sending “overwhelming amounts” of drugs and weapons into prisons represent a threat to national security, according to an annual inspection report by the prisons watchdog.

HMP chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has warned criminal gangs are targeting jails and making huge profits selling contraband to a “vulnerable and bored” prison population.

The watchdog boss reiterated his concerns about drones making regular deliveries to two Category A jails, HMP Long Lartin and HMP Manchester, which hold “the most dangerous men in the country”, including terrorists.

Mr Taylor said “the police and prison service have in effect ceded the airspace” above these two high-security prisons, which he said was compromising the “safety of staff, prisoners, and ultimately that of the public”.

“The possibility now whereby we’re seeing packages of up to 10kg brought in by serious organised crime means that in some prisons there is now a menu of drugs available,” he said. “Anything from steroids to cannabis, to things like spice and cocaine.”

“Drone technology is moving fast… there is a level of risk that’s posed by drones that I think is different from what we’ve seen in the past,” warned the chief inspector – who also said there’s a “theoretical risk” that a prisoner could escape by being carried out of a jail by a drone.

He urged the prison service to “get a grip” of the issue, stating: “We’d like to see the government, security services, coming together, using technology, using intelligence, so that this risk doesn’t materialise.”

The report makes clear that physical security – such as netting, windows and CCTV – is “inadequate” in some jails, including Manchester, with “inexperienced staff” being “manipulated”.

Mr Taylor said there are “basic” measures which could help prevent the use of drones, such as mowing the lawn, “so we don’t get packages disguised as things like astro turf”.

Responding to the report, the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) said: “The ready access to drugs is deeply worrying and is undermining efforts to create places of rehabilitation.”

Mr Taylor’s report found that overcrowding continues to be what he described as a “major issue”, with increasing levels of violence against staff and between prisoners, combined with a lack of purposeful activity.

Some 20% of adult men responding to prisoner surveys said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, increasing to 30% in the high security estate.

Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This report is a checklist for all the reasons the government must prioritise reducing prison numbers, urgently.

“Sentencing reform is essential, and sensible steps to reduce the prison population would save lives.”

The report comes after the government pledged to accept most of the recommendations proposed in the independent review of sentencing policy, with the aim of freeing up around 9,500 spaces.

Those measures won’t come into effect until spring 2026.

Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said Mr Taylor’s findings show “the scale of the crisis” the government “inherited”, with “prisons dangerously full, rife with drugs and violence”.

He said: “After just 500 prison places added in 14 years, we’re building 14,000 extra – with 2,400 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again.

“We’re also investing £40m to bolster security, alongside stepping up cooperation with police to combat drones and stop the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.”