Suella Braverman facing calls to quit as she lays a wreath at Cenotaph

12 November 2023 , 23:14

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Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to sack his Home Secretary Suella Braverman (Image: AP)

With no hint of remorse, Suella Braverman laid a wreath at the Cenotaph as she was blamed for violence on Armistice Day.

Far-right thugs trying to disrupt yesterday’s pro-Palestinian march clashed with police in Whitehall. Labour blamed the Home Secretary for sowing “hatred and mistrust” and called on her to quit.

Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to sack his Home Secretary after her inflammatory rhetoric and criticism of police were blamed for the violence on Armistice Day.

Ms Braverman, who wore a 2022 poppy badge at the Cenotaph today, was accused of an “unprecedented” attack on the Met over the policing of the pro-Palestinian peace march.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “She doesn’t have the credibility or authority to do the serious job of Home Secretary.” Labour leader Keir Starmer wrote in The Sunday Telegraph: “Few people in public life have done more recently to whip up division, set the British people against one another and sow the seeds of hatred and distrust than Suella Braverman. In doing so, she demeans her office.”

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Yvette Cooper said Ms Braverman does not have "credibility or authority" (Getty Images)

Of 145 people arrested during the pro-Palestinian march, 92 were far-right counter-protesters. Seven men, aged 21 to 75, have been charged. Nine police officers were hurt in clashes with far-right thugs, waving St George’s flags and chanting “England till I die” in Westminster. Met Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the “extreme violence” used by the hooligans was “extraordinary and deeply concerning”.

The pro-Palestinian protest drew 300,000 protesters. Ms Braverman had branded them “hate marchers” and accused the Met of bias in the way left and right-wing activists were treated.

Signalling she should carry the blame for yesterday’s clashes, Mr Twist said a “week of intense debate about protest and policing” helped “increase community tensions”. The Home Secretary tweeted last night: “That multiple officers were injured doing their duty is an outrage.”

While not commenting directly on the far-right thugs she had rallied, Ms Braverman condemned anti-Semitism at the pro-Palestinian march as “sick, inflammatory and, in some cases, clearly criminal”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “If Suella Braverman had any honour she would resign and, if not, Rishi Sunak should sack her.”

Ben Glaze