Suella Braverman accuses Sunak of ‘betraying’ secret deal to ensure her support in leadership contest

Published

2 years ago

November 15, 2023

admin

Suella Braverman has accused Rishi Sunak of “betraying” a secret deal they made to secure her backing during the Tory leadership contest that paved the way for him to become prime minister.

In a scathing departure letter a day after she was sacked as home secretary, the right-wing MP launched a blistering personal attack on her old boss, saying he had “manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver” on key policies.

Politics Live: Braverman launches scathing attack on Sunak – in letter that ‘signals’ her plan now

In the three-page broadside, in which she branded Mr Sunak “weak, uncertain and lacking in leadership qualities”, she claimed she agreed to serve in Mr Sunak’s cabinet on “certain conditions” after Liz Truss’s premiership imploded.

She said this included commitments from the prime minister to reduce net migration and legislate against the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in order to deliver on the Rwanda deportation plan.

However, she claimed that despite sending “numerous letters on the key subjects contained in our agreement”, as well as making requests to discuss them and working up legal and policy advice, “this was often met with equivocation, disregard and a lack of interest”.

“You have manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies,” she said.

“Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so. Or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises.”

Ms Braverman was sacked as home secretary during the prime minister’s reshuffle on Monday and was replaced by former foreign secretary James Cleverly.

The move has angered some on the Tory right, with David Cameron’s return to the frontbench to fill Mr Cleverly’s old position seen as a pivot to the centre ground.

In the lengthy letter, Ms Braverman told Mr Sunak he had “no personal mandate” to lead the UK after losing the 2022 Conservative leadership contest to Ms Truss.

She said her support for him was “pivotal” in him being installed as Tory leader six weeks later, and came on the basis of his “firm assurances” he would prioritise certain policy issues.

As well as stopping the boats, she said the commitments centred around delivering key pieces of Brexit legislation and providing “unequivocal” guidance to schools on protecting biological sex and safeguarding single-sex spaces.

She said: “These are not just pet interests of mine. They are what we promised the British people in our 2019 manifesto which led to a landslide victory. They are what people voted for in the 2016 Brexit Referendum.

“Our deal was no mere promise over dinner, to be discarded when convenient and denied when challenged.”

Small boats ‘betrayal’

In particular, Ms Braverman said Mr Sunak had not lived up to his promise to do “whatever it takes” to stop small boat crossings by failing to override human rights concerns about the delayed Rwanda deportation policy.

The plan to send refugees to the east African nation has been stalled for 18 months due to a series of legal challenges, with some Conservative MPs calling for the government to leave the ECHR in order to enact it.

Ms Braverman called Mr Sunak’s rejection of this idea “not merely a betrayal of our agreement, but a betrayal of your promise to the nation that you would do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop the boats”.

She accused the prime minister of “magical thinking – believing that you can will your way through this without upsetting polite opinion” and of failing to prepare a plan B should the Supreme Court rule against the policy when it delivers a key verdict on its lawfulness on Wednesday.

Mr Sunak sacked Mrs Braverman over the phone on Monday morning, clearing the way for a high-risk reshuffle aimed at reviving his faltering premiership.

She was purged after writing an unauthorised article in The Times which accused the Met Police of left-wing bias to pro-Palestinian protesters who have been marching for a ceasefire in Gaza. It was the latest in a series of inflammatory comments that was starting to rile members of her own party, including saying that rough sleeping was a “lifestyle choice”.

In her letter, Ms Braverman admitted she may “not have always found the right words” but said she wrote the article out of “frustration” that Mr Sunak would not ban the marches, calling him “uncertain, weak and lacking in the qualities of leadership that this country needs”.

She finished her attack by urging Mr Sunak to “change course urgently”.

She said: “Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently.”

And in a sign she will champion causes cherished by the party’s right on the backbenches – possibly with a view to her own leadership ambitions – she said: “I will, of course, continue to support the government in pursuit of policies which align with an authentic conservative agenda.”

‘Conservative soap opera’

In response, a Number 10 spokesperson said the prime minister was “proud to appoint a strong, united team” in his reshuffle and thanked Ms Braverman for her service.

They added Mr Sunak was still committed to stopping small boats, regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s court decision.

“The prime minister believes in actions not words,” they said. “He is proud that this government has brought forward the toughest legislation to tackle illegal migration this country has seen and has subsequently reduced the number of boat crossings by a third this year. And whatever the outcome of the Supreme Court tomorrow, he will continue that work.”

But opposition MPs have seized on the attack as an example of “yet more Conservative chaos”.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “Suella Braverman failed at every task at hand as home secretary and now she seems determined to drag everyone else down with her.

“While people struggle to see their GP or pay their mortgages, this government is too busy dealing with their own infighting. When will this Conservative Party soap opera end?”

UK

Yellow warning for thunderstorms issued for large parts of England and Wales

Published

6 hours ago

June 6, 2025

admin

Yellow warning for thunderstorms issued for large parts of England and Wales

A yellow warning for thunderstorms has been issued for large parts of England and Wales on Saturday.

The Met Office warning covers most of southern England, parts of the Midlands and most of south Wales between 9am until 6pm on Saturday.

People in the affected areas are being warned heavy showers and thunderstorms may lead to some disruption to transport services.

Find out the forecast for your area

Delays to train services are possible and some short-term losses of power are also likely.

The UK’s weather agency said 10 to 15mm of rain could fall in less than an hour, while some places could see 30 to 40mm of rain over several hours from successive showers and thunderstorms.

It has also warned of frequent lightning, hail and strong gusty winds.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Dan Suri said most places in the warning areas will be hit by showers, although not all will see storms.

“In this case, it’s difficult to predict where exactly thunderstorms will hit because they are small and fast changing,” he said.

The wet weather comes days after the Met Office said the UK had its warmest spring on record – and its driest for 50 years.

Provisional figures showed spring temperatures surpassed the long-term average by 1.4C – with a mean temperature of 9.5C (49.1F). That beat the previous warmest spring recorded in 2024.

Temperature records were broken in all four nations in the UK – with 1.64C above the long-term average in Northern Ireland, 1.56C above average in Scotland, 1.39C in Wales and 1.35C in England.

In records dating back to 1884, the Met Office said eight of the 10 warmest springs had occurred since 2000 – and the three warmest had been since 2017, in a sign of the changing climate.

Conditions were also incredibly dry this spring, with an average of 128.2mm of rain falling in the UK across March, April and May – the lowest spring total since 1974, which saw 123.2mm.

UK

Body found in wooded area in search for missing teenager Cole Cooper

Published

7 hours ago

June 6, 2025

admin

Body found in wooded area in search for missing teenager Cole Cooper

A body has been found in the search for a teenager who went missing in early May.

Cole Cooper, 19, was last seen by a school friend on Wednesday 7 May, in the village of Longcroft near Falkirk, in central Scotland.

Mr Cooper was reported missing by his family on Friday 9 May.

Police Scotland said the body was discovered in a wooded area near Kilsyth Road in Banknock on Friday afternoon.

“Formal identification has yet to take place however the family of missing man Cole Cooper, 19, has been informed,” the force said in a statement. “Enquiries remain ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”

Speaking to Sky News Breakfast earlier this week, his brother Connor said their family felt “lost” and described his sibling’s disappearance as “hell… for all of us”.

He described him going missing as “very much out of character” and that “even if his brother wanted some space or alone time” he would have notified family or friends beforehand – and would never “put his younger siblings through this”.

His mother Wendy Stewart described the situation as “total heartache” and was afraid he may have been “picked up by a car” and come to harm.

“Is it actually happening?” she said. “I have been wanting to wake up and it’s just been a big nightmare.”

After police got involved in the search, they visited more than 220 properties and trawled through around 1,000 hours of CCTV footage in a bid to find Mr Cooper.

Specialist resources from across the country were mobilised, including a helicopter and drones from the air support unit, as well as officers from the dive and marine unit.

The force previously indicated there was no suggestion of any criminality.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the latest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

UK

Bargain Hunt expert Oghenochuko Ojiri jailed after failing to report sale of artworks to ‘Hezbollah financier’

Published

9 hours ago

June 6, 2025

admin

Bargain Hunt expert Oghenochuko Ojiri jailed after failing to report sale of artworks to 'Hezbollah financier'

An expert on TV show Bargain Hunt has been jailed for two and a half years after failing to report the sale of artworks to a man suspected of financing Hezbollah.

Oghenochuko Ojiri, who has also appeared on another BBC programme Antiques Road Trip, sold around £140,000 worth of art to Nazem Ahmad over a 14-month period between October 2020 and December 2021, the Old Bailey heard.

Art dealer Ojiri, 53, who is known as Ochuko, admitted eight counts in May of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector, contrary to section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Lebanese businessman and diamond dealer Ahmad was described in court as a “prominent financier” for Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist group in the UK.

Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said Ahmad has an extensive art collection worth tens of millions of pounds, including works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, many of which are displayed in his penthouse in Beirut.

Ojiri, who owned the Ramp Gallery, which was later renamed the Ojiri Gallery, sent a message to a contact saying, “I can’t risk selling directly to him,” after Ahmad was sanctioned in the US, the court heard.

But Mr Harris said “that’s exactly what he did” when he sold artworks, which were sent to Dubai, the UAE and Beirut.

Ojiri’s barrister Kevin Irwin said he was arrested on 18 April 2023 in Wrexham while filming a BBC show and his “humiliation is complete” as he appeared for sentencing.

Ahmad was sanctioned on the same day in the UK and officers later seized artworks held in two warehouses in the country, including a Picasso and a Warhol, valued at almost £1m.

‘Shameful fall from grace’

Sentencing Ojiri to two years and six months in prison, with an additional year on extended licence, the judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, told him: “You knew about Ahmad’s suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him”.

She said Ojiri, from Brent, north London, viewed his offences as a “shameful fall from grace of a public personality and role model for those from an ethnic minority, in the arts and antique sector”.

“Your hard work, talent and charisma have brought you a great deal of success,” the judge said.

“You knew you shouldn’t be dealing with this man. I don’t accept you were naive, rather it benefitted you to close your eyes to what you believed he was.

“You knew it was your duty to alert the authorities but you elected to balance the financial profit and commercial success of your business against Ahmad’s dark side.”

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter terrorism command, said the prosecution was the “first of its kind” and should serve as a warning to art dealers.

“Oghenochuko Ojiri wilfully obscured the fact he knew he was selling artwork to Nazem Ahmad, someone who has been sanctioned by the UK and US treasury and described as a funder of the proscribed terrorist group Hezbollah,” he said.