COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Departure after PM met Braverman in House of Commons is further serious blow to Truss’s authority



Suella Braverman has been forced to resign as UK home secretary, throwing Liz Truss’s premiership into further chaos and angering the Tory right.

The Guardian was first to reveal that Braverman was departing, with Grant Shapps, the former transport secretary who strongly backed Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership race, set to replace her.

The departed home secretary admitted that she had sent an official document – a draft written statement on migration that was due for imminent publication – from her personal email to a fellow MP as part of policy engagement, which is against the rules.

However, her departure is a further serious blow to Truss’s authority, coming as a growing number of Tory MPs threatened to rebel in a fracking vote tabled by Labour even though they could lose the Tory whip, after the government made it a confidence issue.

In a brutal resignation letter, which contrasted her actions with those of Truss, Braverman wrote: “Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics. I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign.

“It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time. I have concerns about the direction of this government. Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments.”

Truss, still reeling from the massive blow to her authority dealt by Kwasi Karteng’s sacking as chancellor and his replacement Jeremy Hunt subsequently ripping up her economic strategy, had cleared her diary and called off a planned visit amid desperate attempts to shore up her premiership, before speaking to Braverman at a meeting in the House of Commons, sources said.

Downing Street sources claimed the move was at the behest of Hunt, who has taken over control of the government’s economic response following Truss’s disastrous mini-budget, but who they claimed was now “pulling the strings”.

Braverman was an outspoken critic of Truss’s U-turn on the top rate of tax, suggesting she thought the prime minister had fallen victim to a “coup” earlier this month.

Some Tory MPs on the libertarian right of the party have been left dismayed by the prime minister’s subsequent moves to ditch other tax cuts.

Braverman’s departure comes after the Home Office passed a major piece of legislation – the Public Order Act. An ally who spoke to her earlier this week said she had been “upbeat”.

Suella Braverman back as home secretary after resigning



Suella Braverman has returned to the role of home secretary only six days after she dramatically resigned.

Ms Braverman was forced to step down on what became the final chaotic day of Liz Truss' premiership, after admitting two data breaches.

In her resignation letter, she said she had emailed cabinet papers from a private account, but also attacked Ms Truss's approach to immigration.

Rishi Sunak re-appointed Ms Braverman on his first day in office.

The roles of Chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary are now held by the same people they were seven days ago.

Jeremy Hunt was appointed Chancellor two weeks ago by Ms Truss and reversed much of her tax-cutting mini-budget. James Cleverly, made foreign secretary by Ms Truss, will also remain in post.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused Mr Sunak of "putting party before country" in appointing Ms Braverman.

Ms Braverman threw her support behind Mr Sunak in the contest to replace Ms Truss, in what was widely seen as a significant endorsement by an MP on the right-wing of the Tory party.

"He said he wants his government to have 'integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level'," Ms Cooper said.

"Yet he has just appointed Suella Braverman to be home secretary again a week after she resigned for breaches of the Ministerial Code, security lapses, sending sensitive government information through unauthorised personal channels, and following weeks of non-stop public disagreements with other cabinet ministers.

"Our national security and public safety are too important for this kind of chaos."