UK minister Suella Braverman fired: Here’s what to know

EXPLAINER

Braverman was sacked after she criticised the police for being too lenient towards pro-Palestinian protesters.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman after mounting pressure on him to act against her.

Here’s everything to know about Braverman and why she was sacked on Monday:

Why was she fired?

The government said Braverman left her job as part of a cabinet reshuffle ahead of a general election expected next year.

But the dismissal came after Braverman drew anger from within the Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party. After pro-Palestinian protests in London, she wrote an opinion piece for The Times of London, which was published on Thursday. In it, she blamed the police for “playing favourites” and for taking a lenient stance towards pro-Palestinian protests. 

She described the protesters as “pro-Palestinian mobs” and “hate marchers”.

Sunak told reporters that Braverman had not run the article by his office, violating the ministerial code. Still, while Sunak was under pressure to sack Braverman, he had initially backed her.

Who is Suella Braverman?

Braverman was appointed as Britain’s secretary of state in the Home Department by former Prime Minister Liz Truss in September 2022. She was ordered to resign weeks into the job for what she said was breaking rules by sending an official document from her personal email account. She was reinstated as head of the Home Department by Sunak after he became prime minister.

A daughter of immigrants from Kenya and Mauritius, she grew up in Wembley. Braverman, a Conservative, was appointed as attorney general by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020 and has also been a Brexit minister, a post from which she resigned in November 2018.

She has championed tougher immigration rules, such as a plan to “stop the boats”‘ — blocking the entry of refugees crossing the English Channel.

Who is the new home secretary?

In the reshuffle triggered by Braverman being fired, Sunak appointed James Cleverly as the new home secretary.

Until then, Cleverly had been serving as the foreign secretary. To replace him, former Prime Minster David Cameron was appointed. Cameron stepped down as prime minister in July 2016 after his bid to keep Britain in the European Union failed. Three months later, he resigned from the parliament in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

What’s the UK position in the Israel-Gaza war?

Sunak visited Israel on October 19 to “express solidarity with the Israeli people”.

“I am proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour,” Sunak said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We will stand with you in solidarity. We will stand with you and your people. And we also want you to win.”

How have people reacted?

After her dismissal, 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,” she added.

Braverman’s removal and Cameron’s return angered some Conservatives on the right of the party.

Member of Parliament and former Business and Trade Secretary Jacob William Rees-Mogg told GB News that sacking Braverman was a mistake that undermines Conservatives’ chances to win the next election. He added that Cameron’s appointment could shift the Conservative vote to Reform UK, the new Brexit party.

Cameron’s appointment has also been criticised by the opposition. David Lammy of the Labour Party posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Cameron’s appointment was “a last gasp act of desperation”.

David Cameron was a disastrous PM. This is a last gasp act of desperation from a government devoid of talent and ideas.

Amid international crisis, Sunak has chosen an unelected failure from the past who MPs cannot even hold to account.

Only Labour offers the change we need.

— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) November 13, 2023

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies