Braverman accused of pushing 'hate' on BBC Question Time as PM told to sack her
Suella Braverman has been accused of peddling "hate" as Rishi Sunak was told to finally sack her during a heated debate on her future on BBC Question Time.
The under-fire Home Secretary is facing a fight for her survival after No10 admitted an article she wrote hitting out at the police had not been cleared. Mr Sunak is now facing the dilemma of whether to sack the senior minister and on Friday was hit with another headache with official figures showing the UK economy recorded no growth between July and September.
Ms Braverman had accused the Metropolitan Police of "playing favourites" ahead of a pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day on Saturday. On Friday the Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt became the most senior Tory to criticise her remarks, telling reporters: "As many other Cabinet ministers have said, the words that she used are not words that I myself would have used.
"But I have a productive relationship with her as a colleague and I have always given her the money that she needs to fund police, bring down crime and to fund the immigration and asylum system."
Last night the senior Tory Bob Neill described Ms Braverman's position at the Home Office "untenable" after she branded the demos “hate marches”. Piling further pressure on Mr Sunak to sack his Home Secretary, Sir Bob, the Chair of the Justice Select Committee, added: "I think she's gone over the line". He said she had a history of "ill judgement, and loose words".
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Speaking on BBC Question Time, the Labour Shadow Minister Sir Chris Bryant said Ms Braverman should be sacked but added: "Rishi Sunak is too weak to sack her. Rishi Sunak won't sack her because he's far too weak. She's broken the ministerial code, she didn't have what she put in the newspaper cleared by No10.
"Rishi Sunak is the person that makes the decision about the ministerial code. Of course he should do the decent thing but he is too weak."
He added: "It is absolutely right that there is no place for hate on our streets. But there's no place for hate in the Home Office either. "I think that when you're Home Secretary you have a very special responsibility not to undermine the police in doing their job properly - and that's effectively what she's done".
Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru MP, also told the audience: "Liz Truss managed to sack Suella Braverman - but Rishi Sunak hasn't got the backbone over what I think are way more serious matters".
On Friday, No10 said the PM still has full confidence in Ms Braverman and continues to look into how an op-ed by the Home Secretary criticising the police came to be published. The "collective focus" in Government will be on making sure Remembrance events this weekend are protected from disruption, the spokeswoman said. But they repeatedly declined to say whether the pair have spoken.
The spokeswoman added: "(The Prime Minister) has confidence in the Home Secretary and our collective focus, working with the Home Office and other colleagues in Government now, is on ensuring that Remembrance events at the weekend are protected from disruption and that veterans and those gathering to mark Remembrance Sunday and the Jewish community do not face unacceptable intimidation."
The Tory minister Robert Halfon said it was a "matter for the PM and the ethics adviser" when asked whether Ms Braverman breached the ministerial code. He said it was "way above his pay grade" to answer questions about whether the Home Secretary had flouted the rules. "Downing Street have absolutely made it clear that they're looking into the article, that they hadn't cleared it before it was published and I'm sure that we will get the outcome of that soon," he said.
The row over Ms Braverman's position came as new figures delivered a blow to Mr Sunak's priority to grow the economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) - which measures the value of goods and services produced - showed no growth in the three months from July to September, the Office for National Statistics said. ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: "The economy is estimated to have shown no growth in the third quarter. "Services dropped a little with falls in health, management consultancy and commercial property rentals. "These were partially offset by growth in engineering, car sales and machinery leasing."
Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “These figures are further evidence that the economy is not working under the Conservatives and working people are worse off. “At the start of the year, Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt promised to get the economy growing. These figures show that growth is flatlining and the British people are paying the price, with 25 Tory tax rises and higher mortgages.
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