Support for the under-fire British home secretary Suella Braverman was draining away at the highest levels of the British government heading into the weekend over her defiance of the prime minister Rishi Sunak in an article she wrote castigating London’s Metropolitan Police.
Jeremy Hunt, chancellor of the exchequer, became the latest government member, and the most senior so far, to criticise her for the article in Thursday’s Times newspaper in which she accused the Met of showing bias to left-wing protesters.
Ms Braverman, a right-wing firebrand who has repeatedly challenged Mr Sunak’s authority, failed to tone down aspects of the article despite a request to do so from Number 10 Downing Street. Instead she wrote a scathing criticism of the Met after its chief constable, Mark Rowley refused to ban a pro-Palestinian protest in Hyde Park on Saturday, which is also Armistice Day in the UK.
Ms Braverman referred to pro-Palestinian marches as “hate marches” and those at the gatherings as “mobs”, and compared them to sectarian rallies in support of terrorism in the North.
Mr Hunt said the language used by Ms Braverman were “not words that I would have used”, and indicated that other cabinet members agreed with him. He said had a “productive relationship with Ms Braverman as a colleague” and had funded initiatives in her department. When pressed further on her antics he said the prime minister has confidence in her, but he failed to declare his own.
It emerged on Thursday that Number 10 had sought changes to the piece, which had been submitted by her to Mr Sunak’s office before publication, but that only some of the changes had been made. A spokesman for the prime minister said on Friday that his office was examining how this happened through an “internal process”, which suggests Mr Sunak may not yet have launched a full ethics investigation under the ministerial code.
Ms Braverman has also been accused by politicians from across the political spectrum of undermining the operational independence of the Met.
The row over the Times column was the second time in less than a week that Ms Braverman had caused a ruckus to overshadow the government after she declared that street homelessness was a “lifestyle choice”, leading to widespread condemnation.
Labour said Ms Braverman was “out of control” and should be dismissed, while even members of her own party speculated that she may be trying to get herself sacked so that she can later re-emerge as an alternative leader to Mr Sunak should he be ousted after the next election.
Getting rid of Ms Braverman is fraught with risk for the prime minister, however. She is a standard bearer for the right wing of her party and has support from senior figures, including party vice-chairman Lee Anderson and prominent MP Miriam Cates, both of whom represent working class constituencies in areas of the north of England that Mr Sunak is desperate to hold in the election.
Sacking her in advance of the weekend would also further overshadow events around Remembrance Sunday, including the wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph first World War memorial in Whitehall. Also, if he sacked her and then trouble later breaks out at the pro-Palestinian event on Saturday, Ms Braverman could be retrospectively seen by some as having being justified in wanting it banned.
Her position is viewed as increasingly shaky, however, and even if she survives the weekend pressure may resume on Mr Sunak to sack her next weekend. He may get an opportunity to manage her exit after the supreme court rules on Wednesday on the government’s plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda. If the court blocks the plan, which she championed, it may give Mr Sunak cover to shuffle her out of her position.