Labour calls on Sunak to quit if he doesn't sack 'dangerous' Braverman

09 November 2023 , 10:18

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Labour has demanded Rishi Sunak quits if he fails to get rid of under-fire Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Mrs Braverman was missing from the Commons as Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called for answers about the top Tory's latest attack on policing. She sparked outrage when she claimed police chiefs "play favourites" over protests - treating the far-right differently from left wingers.

Earlier Transport Secretary Mark Harper refused three times to say he backed his colleague following her latest rant. And Policing Minister Chris Philp did not repeat her claims in the Commons. Ms Cooper told MPs: "If he (Mr Sunak) can't get a grip of her conduct he's given up on serious government and he and the Home Secretary should both let someone else do the job."

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Tory leadership hopeful Suella Braverman faces calls to be sacked (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

Mrs Braverman lashed out after the Metropolitan Police refused to ban a pro-Palestine demonstration on Saturday. Lambasting her in the Commons, Ms Cooper accused her of "inflaming tensions" in "the most dangerous of ways". She added: "The job of the Home Secretary is to protect the public and not to run an endless Tory leadership campaign."

It came as Mr Harper repeatedly refused to give a yes or no answer when asked if she had his full confidence in an excruciating BBC Breakfast interview. He also refused to back Mrs Braverman on Times Radio, saying he disagreed with her claim that police chiefs "play favourites" over protests. He said: "I think all police forces are focused on upholding the law without fear or favour. That's what they do."

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And Policing Minister Chris Philp, who was sent to address MPs in Mrs Braverman's place, notably refused to repeat what the Home Secretary had written. He said that she wasn't in the House because a family member was having an operation.

In an article in The Times, Ms Braverman ranted about a planned protest on Armistice Day - claiming right-wing protests are met with "aggression", but left-wingers get a lighter response. She claimed there is a "perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters".

She said: "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? I have spoken to serving and former police officers who have noted this double standard.

"Football fans are even more vocal about the tough way they are policed as compared to politically connected minority groups favoured by the left. It may be that senior officers are more concerned with how much flak they are likely to get than whether this perceived unfairness alienates the majority. The Government has a duty to take a broader view."

It comes after senior Tories lobbied Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley to ban Saturday's march, held in protest over Israel's actions in Gaza. Rishi Sunak said he would hold Sir Mark "accountable" if there is trouble, but conceded it would be allowed to go ahead.

Mrs Braverman wrote: "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. Also disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday's march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas."

It sparked an immediate backlash. Former Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor said: "It's contrary to the spirit of the ancient constitutional settlement with the police, I think it's contrary to the letter of that constitutional settlement, and it is highly regrettable that it has been made.

"These political objections can be made by many, many people, but a Home Secretary of all people is not the person to do this." He added: "By applying pressure to the Commissioner of the Met in this way I think that crosses the line."

Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: "Suella Braverman is running a Conservative Party leadership campaign, not the Home Office. The Home Secretary's desire to stoke divisions and ramp up tensions in this way is irresponsible and dangerous. Instead of working with the police, she is doing everything in her power to make their already challenging jobs harder. This Government by press release has made her the most disastrous and reckless Home Secretary of modern times."

On Tuesday Labour leader Keir Starmer called on the PM to "think very carefully" about how the Home Secretary reflects on the Government. He said: "Without a serious Home Secretary there can be no serious Government and he cannot be a serious Prime Minister. Homelessness is a choice. It's a political choice."